


The Sky is Yours!

by evilblackbunny



Series: The Beloved Dumpsterfire [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Behold the trashfire, F/M, Graphic Violence, I wrote this a decade ago, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's here for posterity, Kidnapping, M/M, Mental Illness, Other, Psychological Torture, and to humiliate myself, emotional drama, every single character is OOC at some point, this is an old trashfire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-21 04:03:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 160,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14276502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilblackbunny/pseuds/evilblackbunny
Summary: Long ago, an AU fanfic was written. A decade later, it's spellchecked and uploaded to AO3.This splits off after Predacons Rising and spirals into bullshit.A chance meeting leads to a chain of very strange events. Friendships begin and sometimes rekindle, among other things.Truth is, things are never black and white. Some lessons have to be learned the hard way.





	1. Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> This absolute trash fire brought to you by old teenage-dreams and a very unhappy childhood.

_Chapter One: Curiosity_

 

_There are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions. ~Charles Proteus Steinmetz_

 

**X**

 

He liked the dark. It was great for hiding. Not that he was hiding, but he didn't exactly want to be seen. Prowl had been coming to this place for the past few weeks. How he found it was some stroke of luck. One wrong turn and he found himself half an hour from Detroit, along a scenic road lined with trees, past an old stone house, over a covered bridge and there he was. A horse sanctuary and training facility. The ninja bot didn't get to see horses that much. He loved the powerful creatures.

 

Nellie looked around her, keeping Shylock steady. The Arabian wasn't exactly _good_ with bareback riding yet, but she was working on that. After he flipped her on her back some odd times, the trainer thought it best to wear spurs. She hadn't used them yet, and she got the feeling the gray beast beneath her hips knew she had them on. He was still young and pretty cheeky. The grass was wet, so going into a canter wasn't on the agenda. A nice trot would have to do until the hill got too steep. Like Shylock ever did what she wanted him to do.

 

Prowl ducked low when he saw someone on the horse. He and the creature didn't exactly get along. At least it stamping the ground and snorting when he came into view was all it did. Beautiful animal though. If the horse acted up, he might be found. He wasn't sure the human would know it was an Autobot watching, but he backed up a bit to be safe. And stepped on a branch. Prowl moved behind the nearest tree, the fading sunlight glinting off his visor. Slag, he'd been seen.

 

Shylock snorted and backed up, head to the side. Nellie squeezed her legs, hardly touching the smooth nubs of metal into the belly of her companion. “Easy Shy...” The woman dismounted, and carefully removed her gun from its back holster. She cleared her throat and raised it to her shoulder. “Alright! I see you there! Come out or I swear I'll shoot!” Nellie yelled out. She wasn't a good shot, but she heard a twig snap and something shiny had moved. Someone was in the trees. “I mean it! You have until three!” She really hoped she didn't get to three!

 

Shoot? Was the human armed? The ninja bot turned his head slowly to see that she wasn't bluffing. The human had what looked like a shotgun, but shorter than it should have been. It may have been an earth weapon, but he wasn't going to risk it being fired. “...Alright, I'm coming out. Please, hold your fire ...and try to remain calm.” Slowly, hands raised to his head, Prowl stepped into the open, and looked down at a rather short human female. She had ash-brown hair, a toned frame, olive skin, and light amber eyes. She looked pretty thin.

 

Nellie blinked at the robot, and lowered the gun to look at what had stepped into her vision. The robot had to be ten or so feet tall. Over twice her height, which wasn't saying much. Mostly black, with tan upper legs and what looked like boots for feet. He also had gold markings on his legs and chest, with two, tall stack-like things, one sticking from each shoulder. There was a blue visor covering his eyes...sensors? Whatever they were. “...okay, you were not what I was expecting.” That didn't even cover it. She'd met some of them before, but what were they called again?

 

Prowl lowered his arms, somewhat relieved. “That tends to happen a lot. My name is Prowl.” He had never been good at introductions. “What may I call you?”

 

“Nice name. Sure live up to it, getting Shylock all freaked out...” Said horse was now grazing several yards away. Damn cheeky boy probably freaked out to go graze. She turned her attention back to the bot. “My name is Nellie. I live here. How'd you find this place?” She really wanted to know. She wanted to know a lot about this bot. More importantly, why he was watching her.

 

“I was heading somewhere, and I must've taken the wrong turn.” He lied. He knew the way from here to the base backwards and blindfolded.

 

“Hmm, okay then.” Nellie slid her gun back in its holster, hands on her hips. “That doesn't explain why you were hiding though. You wanna explain or let me guess?” The short human raised her hands a bit, giving him a warning that she was rethinking putting the gun away.

 

“Humans don't always approve of our kind.” That was the truth, and there wasn't much his kind could do.

 

“...hmm, been there.” She nodded, moving her hands to cross her arms over her wide chest. She looked at the bots legs, frowning at the mud coating them. “Man, you got dirty in there,” she said quietly. Shylock whinnied and circled the ninja bot, head held high. He sniffed the mud coated legs, and did another circle around the bot. Prowl moved his head to watch the creature move. Shylock shook his head, and stood next to Nellie, nuzzling her temple. She put her hand under his chin and said “Stop it you. C'mon, time to go.”

 

“Do you think I could borrow a towel?” Prowl asked quietly, frowning at his legs.

 

“Sure, follow me. Just watch out for the land mines.”

 

Prowl froze mid step, the side of his visor going up in question. “Did you just say 'land mines'?”

 

Nellie turned to look back at the ninja bot, and put her hand to her forehead. “Aw crap, sorry. I meant, um...” She looked at him rather helplessly, snapping her fingers to try and help her remember. “Scat? Fecal matter? Um... horse poop! That's it. Watch out for horse poop.” She continued toward the barn, a little embarrassed.

 

“Oh...” Prowl followed the woman, glancing at the horse. If he didn't know better he'd think he was smirking at him. He looked at the woman walking ahead of him, and at the barn they were heading to. It was big. Very, very big. It was, in short, huge. He could step through the threshold without ducking down. There were several horse stalls on each side, but only a few were occupied. One had a very fat donkey, who was busy eating hay.

 

A few over was a horse just rippling with muscle. She was a strong palomino mare, and very well groomed. She, like Shylock, turned her head sideways at the sight of him. But instead of stomping at him, she came toward the bars of the stall, sticking as much of her face out as she could to reach him. Prowl leaned down, stretching out a hand, but stopped. He looked over at Nellie and asked. “Is it alright if I touch this horse?”

 

Nellie looked up, peaking over Shylock's backbone. “Sure thing. Lila's a sweetheart.” and with that, she was back to checking for ticks. Prowl turned his attention back to the mare, and let the backs of his fingers come into contact with the soft and warm mouth. Lila, as she had been called, nudged the foreign metal with curious flare, ears forward, breath hot. Her whiskers wiggled with her mouth, before a very rough and hot tongue licked him. Lila then pulled back, swishing her tail and getting a mouth full of hay. “Lila's full name is Little England. She's a racehorse sent here from Ohio. The owners plan on racing her in the Kentucky Derby next year. I have her until then.”

 

“Fascinating.” He said, smiling. Then there was a loud clanking noise behind him. Prowl straightened, and turned to meet a very large, very angry looking horse. Its ears, though small, came up to the bottom of his chest plate. The horse turned several times in its stall, before stopping to stare at the now bent-over bot, almost challenging him. The chestnut coat was paired with a short flaxen tail and crew cut like mane. It made loud breathing noises, nose pressed against the bars but not fitting through. The second Prowl moved, the beast brayed at him, jumping upwards a bit, making him straighten again.

 

“Careful with Champ. He's not too keen with strangers,” Nellie said, removing her spurs. “Don't take it too hard, he doesn't like anybody.” The horse...Champ, turned his massive chestnut head to look at the ninja bot. He let out a low rumble-snort and turned his back end to him as if to say, 'Yes, I WILL fart.' “He, Shylock and Brandy are mine. Brandy is the donkey,” she said, leaning up to stretch. “Okay, just let me put Shylock away and I'll get you a towel.” She stared for a moment, then pushed the horse into his stall, latching the door.

 

The mud had hardened, cracked on the edges. The woman went around the corner, and came back with a towel and a hose. “Gotta hose you down, k? Otherwise that'll be a pain to get off.” she sprayed his legs. He backed up from the shock at first, but then let the cold water rinse the mud away. After a minute, the water stopped, and Nellie handed him the rather large towel. He rubbed his legs dry, handing the towel back to Nellie when done.

 

“Thank you...Nellie.”

 

“Anytime. And feel free to call me Nell.” with that, she was off again, climbing up a ladder to the hay loft. He had to admit that it was making him a little uneasy to watch the woman throw a hay bail to the floor. It was a long fall, for a human at least. But she did seem to know how to throw it without going to the floor with it. Still...

 

“Do you need any help up there?” Prowl asked, going to stand by the ladder. He felt kind of useless just standing there, watching her.

 

“Nah, I got it. Watch your head!” And another bail hit the floor. Prowl watched, arms crossed. “Okay, looks like enough.” Nellie came down, and loaded a wheel barrel. She went to each stall, shoving hay through the bars of the stalls. Shylock shook his head, taking a mouthful. Lila didn't have much interest in it. He couldn't see Brandy, and Champ was... glaring at him.

 

“Do you do this every day?” He asked. Nellie looked up, pushing the wheel barrel back where it came from.

 

“Yep. Everyday. For the past five years. And probably a few dozen more.”

 

“With all these creatures to take care of, when do you find time to recharge?” He asked. He hadn't seen a house on the property. A silo, a shed, a few open air buildings and some sort of concrete pad where the hose came from, but nothing else.

 

“Hmm?” Nellie turned around, latching Shylock's door. “Recharge? You mean sleep, right?” She put a hand on her hip, and pointed up at the hayloft. “...up there.”

 

Prowl looked up, and back at Nellie. “You... sleep on the hay bails?”

 

“Uh... you know, I should show you...” She climbed up the ladder, and turned around halfway, looking Prowl at eye level. “...you're tall but thin. If it can hold all my crap, it can hold you too.” She turned and continued up, only to see a black blur shoot past her. She looked up, and she saw a blue visor peak over the edge at her. “Show-off,” she said with a smirk.

 

The ninja bot pulled back, standing up to look around. The boards creaked under his feet, but it was expected. Basic set up he was guessing. A bed, a lamp and table. On the left there was a fridge, a table and a coffee maker.

 

“Not much to look at is it?” Nellie said, pulling herself up. “Hmm, thought I took this off...” The woman mumbled. She pulled the strap on her back, letting the holster and gun slide down her arm to her hand before walking over to the bed. “But I like it this way. This place was dirt cheap, too. I didn't want to build a house for no reason, seeing it's just me out here...” Nellie hung the holster on a nail, crawled over the bed and turned on the lamp. “Well, not including the horses of course.”

 

“So I see...” He looked at the human sitting on the bed, legs crossed and head tilted to one side. She was pretty small, but not a weakling by any means. He could tell by her stance. And the fact that she had muscle tone. “I have a few questions though, if that's alright.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest plate.

 

“Shoot.”

 

“Alright. How old are you?”

 

Nellie smiled slightly. “I'm twenty-six. I know, my size is kinda throw-offy. I'm a shorty at five feet even.” She came up to his fingertips when relaxed. Damn, he wasn't even that tall. She was used to being dwarfed, but not like this.

 

The side of his visor went up again. “Really? You don't look over twenty.”

 

“Yes, really.” She blinked. “Thanks …. so, anything else?”

 

“Actually...” Prowl said, glancing at the gun on the wall. “Why do you have a gun?”

 

“Protection.” Nellie frowned. “I'm a horse trainer, so my work's not cheap. People have tried to steal horses from me before. One time it was the guy who hired me. Good dressage mare and all. Thing was the guy couldn't pay me, so I just had him clean stalls for a month.” She ran a hand through her hair, and gave the bot a lopsided grin. “It's a twelve gauge sawed off shotgun.” Nellie looked at the rafters above her head, looking for a trapped bird or something. “Sorry about... pulling it on you. Can't take chances out here, y'know?”

 

“Understandable...” Silence.

 

“So Prowl, what are you exactly?” Okay, now that felt rude.

 

“I'm an Autobot. A cyber-ninja to be exact,” He said.

 

Nellie blinked. “That actually clears some things up... like the whole hiding and jumping thing... huh, cool. I met a ninja today.”

 

“And I met a horse trainer.” He said, smiling slightly. And then, his comm link went off. With a quiet sigh, he answered. “This is Prowl.”

 

 _'Prowl, where are you? You should have been back here and hour ago.'_ Came Optimus Prime's voice. He didn't sound happy. Honestly though, he never did. He could sound interested or angry or tired, but happy... he needed to work on that one.

 

“I'm not far. I'll be there soon.”

 

_'...good. The Elite guard have landed, so you need to get up here.'_

 

“Fine. Prowl out.” The bot looked back at Nellie, who seemed pretty confused. “That was my commander. He needs me back at the base.” He walked over to the edge of the loft, and turned around to face her. “Sorry about the intrusion.” He didn't know why he was apologizing. She didn't seem to mind.

 

“Don't be sorry, I liked meeting you. You're free to come back any time. Just don't sneak up on me, okay?” she said with a wink.

 

Prowl nodded, and jumped off the hay loft, transforming by the time he landed, his tires screeching as he peeled out of sight.

 

“...Never did get robots...” Nellie mumbled to herself. Well, even if he didn't come back, she had a good time meeting him. But right now she had to work with Lila. Evening runs were fun, and the mare did need the work. The practice track was probably dry by now. Yeah, sounded like a plan.


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More OC's? Yes. Of course.

_Chapter Two: Friends_

 

_The language of friendship is not words but meanings. ~Henry David Thoreau_

 

**X**

 

It wasn't exactly cold out, but Cole still wanted a sweater or something. Sarah didn't really seem to mind the morning chill. He had only been on the streets for a month when he met her. That had been three months ago. Four months without a home. Well, since he'd been thrown out of it. “C'mon Cole, you want food or not?” The dirty blond said crankily through the gray bandanna covering most of her face.

 

“Sarah, you know the fruit vendors aren't up this early, right?” the teen asked, cranky himself. It was around five in the morning, or at least Sarah said that was the time. Her body clock was at least an hour fast in his opinion. Anything to go back to sleep.

 

“On this side of the park, yeah, but on the other side, they're just opening up.”

 

“Then lets go back to sleep!” He whined. Benches weren't the best things to sleep on, but they'd have to do.

 

“No way Cole. That guy in the hat was eyeing you wrong.” Sarah knew very well that Cole was gay. He wasn't flaming, not that that would be a problem, but he wasn't hiding it. That was why he had been thrown into the streets. She didn't really have a home to go to after the incident. She had the bandanna and twelve dollars. And she had done a good job protecting them both. Cole was an amazing pick-pocket. And a little too cute for his own good. Gray-eyed, light-skinned, bleach blond teen? Yeah, too cute and he knew how to use it. Unfortunately.

 

“Oh, right, like you'd let that guy near me.” Sarah was an odd person. The bandanna was rarely off, and when it was it was for eating. Sarah was scary thin, but she was also a smart girl. When he had asked why she wore the smelly thing, she said, 'You don't want to know.' It didn't make sense to him. He had only seen her face a few times. He didn't see _why_ she should hide it. But she had a reason beyond his understanding, and he didn't like to argue.

 

“Damn right I wouldn't.” She grabbed his arm and tugged, pulling Cole across the street. If they didn't get there soon enough, they'd have to go dumpster diving. Sarah couldn't stand dumpster diving. She didn't need the stench to go with her face.

 

**X**

 

It had only been a few days, maybe two or three, since Prowl had had the encounter with Nellie and the horses. He had been busy in those few days. Busy meaning he had to debate whether or not it was safe to go back. Safe for him of course, he could take care of himself. It was Nellie's safety he worried about. The Decepticons were still out there, some still on Earth. Megatron had yet to be found... it had been years since what happened to Omega Supreme...

 

He stepped over a barbed wire fence and onto the property, looking for the woman. He found her after a while. There were several fields on the property, so he had to search for a while. Almost an hour in fact, but he didn't mind. He was going to head for the barn when a loud braying caught his attention. He turned to his left and saw the horse... Champ, jumping up on his hind legs, going in circles and leaping around like his hooves were on fire.

 

He cocked his head. What in sparks name was going on? “...Hello Nell!” It felt weird yelling her name. It felt weird watching the woman stand there as the beast jumped around her. He felt weird all over today. At least Nellie had heard him. She was waving at him when Champ turned. He had his ears back, and made a grunting noise. Nellie said something, before waving at Prowl again. Champ kept coming closer and closer... and closer...

 

...then he was on his back, not exactly sure what had happened... “HOLY! CHAMP! WHAT THE HELL?!” Prowl heard Nellie yelling, but he wasn't sure what had happened. His chest plate hurt, and he wasn't... sure why... then he understood. He didn't sneak up on Nellie, but he had startled Champ. Champ must have seen Prowl as some sort of threat. And, apparently when threatened, the horse would kick. Hard. Very, very hard.

 

“Prowl, you alright?” He looked over at Nellie, who was on her knees next to him. She looked uneasy. “Ooh, that looks bad.” She was referring to the dent on the left side of his chest plating. It wasn't big, but it was a dent. An organic had actually brought harm to him...

 

“...incredible. An organic with such power...” He said. Nellie blinked, her eyebrows knitting.

 

“Never seen someone so tickled to get kicked by a horse.” She leaned to the side, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “You sure he didn't tag your head? Because that'd clear _this..._ hooray for pain thing up.” He chuckled and sat up. “Whoa, no moving. That could've broke something... or knocked something loose... how does it work for you?” Nellie frowned.

 

“It's not serious. I'm not in any danger if that's what you mean. I can have Ratchet fix it when I get back.” He touched the shallow dent, nodding. No harm done. The pain would fade out eventually.

 

Nellie didn't seem to agree, but she didn't argue. “Ratchet's good. Grouchy but good.”

 

Prowl's visor shifted to show confusion. “How do you know Ratchet?” Maybe she heard of him on the news, but that wouldn't explain how she knew his personality.

 

The woman looked at him, frowning. “...wait, you don't remember me at _all_ , do you?” She muttered. “We... the Autobots and I...um...lemme think here...” She looked at the ground, frowning slightly. “Um... You still know Sari Sumdac, right? Well, uh, Sari and I were... friends... a long time ago. It's a long story. I met her when she ran into me... and knocked me on my butt.” Nellie shrugged. “She told me she was running away from... I don't know who. I think her dad is what she said.” She wasn't too sure Prowl understood. She hoped he did.

 

He remembered that day. He remembered it very well. Sari was still getting used to her new body. There was some argument over keeping her 'hidden' for a while, and Sari had taken it the wrong way. Everyone had been looking for her when she finally contacted Prime. He had picked her up, things were sorted out, and things were okay... and Sari had made a human friend, which was seen as a 'step forward in socialization.' “I see... so, the two of you became friends from there?”

 

“Oh yeah. She really liked me for some reason. Sari was about twelve when we met. So... I was... hang on, I hate math...” She closed her eyes, pointing around the air. “Okay carry the seven...” She opened her eyes, looking a bit surprised. “Huh, I was nineteen.” Nellie somewhat scowled. “She's my age back then right now I think. ...I feel old and I hate math...” She grumbled. “So, yeah, we met a while ago. You and I, I mean.”

 

“We did?” He wasn't sure what she meant.

 

“Well, not exactly _meet_ meet, but, uh...” She ran a hand through her ash-brown hair. “I mean that... I saw you, and you saw me, but that was it. We didn't say anything or stop what we were doing. It was a few years ago. I looked a lot different back then. I'd be surprised if you remembered.” She gave him that lopsided smile. “You were in the room with the tree in it. Sari was showing me around. I hadn't seen you yet, she kept tugging me around, trying to show me everyone. I had just met Optimus... I think that was his name at least. Red guy? Has the ax? Wants to be a lumberjack?”

 

“Yes, that's his name. He's my commander...” The ninja bot said, not sure what a lumberjack was. He was trying to remember her, but he couldn't. He was trying to think of anything, but he drew a huge blank. That was disappointing, he had great memory.

 

“Yeah... well, anyway, you were hanging in the tree. Like, upside down. And I looked at you. And you looked at me.” Nellie pointed up at the sky, and said with a light laugh, “And poof! Up the tree. Sari said I'd meet you later, but I never did.” Nellie smirked at him... maybe the look he was giving her made her giggle. She had a nice laugh. “Until now at least. I didn't think it'd take this long though...” The woman stood up, hands on her hips and smiling.

 

“I've been told that I'm not the most social bot in the galaxy.” He said. He knew it was true. The group had graciously labeled him 'a lone wolf.' He sometimes didn't see the 'point' of engaging with others. They could be loud, annoying, invasive... but they were like a family. A crazy one, but still a family.

 

“Well I'm a recluse... sorta. I don't really leave this place unless someone calls me. Even then, I sometimes don't go.” She did that same thing she did when apologizing for threatening to shoot him. She seemed to be looking for something when there was nothing to look for. “...Champ!” she said with a whistle. Prowl cringed slightly at the sound. “Sorry... Um...C'mon boy!”

 

The horse lifted his head to look up, before going into a trot to meet them. The chestnut beast looked down at Prowl, seeming to say, 'Won't do THAT again, will you?' “He really is an amazing creature.” He said quietly, and stood up. Champ backed up, looking at him with this look of apprehension. Prowl raised his hands, looking at Champ carefully. “I mean you no harm.” He said softly. Champ shook his head, pawing the ground. “Easy...” Prowl said, trying to get closer. Nellie suddenly stepped forward. She probably thought he'd get kicked again.

 

“Down boy.” Champ did nothing but flick an ear. Nellie blinked. “Champ. Down.” Champ yawned and bent down to gnaw on grass. Nellie mumbled something, and snapped her fingers at the gelding. Champ went on ignoring her, swishing his stump of a tail. Nellie sighed, walking up to him with her hands on her hips. “I see... fine by me. I like a challenge!” with that, Nellie climbed onto the horses giant neck, trying to get on his back.

 

Prowl cocked his head to the side. “Are you trying to ride him?” he said, trying to hide a smile.

 

“Maybe?” Nellie grabbed a hand full of mane, and pulled up. “I do it all the time! He's huge and fast so try to keep up!” She managed to get to Champ's withers. She stayed there for a second, and kicked her legs a little. Then she sort of hung there, laying on her stomach. Prowl watched in confusion. “...okay...now I'm stuck...” Nellie kicked her legs some more, getting a foot up on the creatures back. “Hang on! I got it!” Her foot slipped, and the woman fell on her back with a light thud. “Dammit.”

 

“Do... you need any help?” Prowl asked, taking a step forward. Champ snorted, stepping over the fallen woman, and continued to eat grass. He frowned, and spoke carefully, not sure of what may happen. “Champ. Uh... Down?” To his surprise, the horse looked at him, and carefully stepped over Nellie. He shook his mane playfully at the bot before he bent down, kneeling on his front knees. Prowl smiled at the horse. He had listened to him...

 

“Thank YOU!” Nellie said, hoisting herself up to the horses back. She settled on him, smiling at the ninja bot. “You're pretty fast, right?” he sure looked fast.

 

“Compared to other Autobots, I am very fast,” he said with a nod.

 

“Good. I hope you _like_ running, Champ's much faster than he looks.” Nell grinned almost deviously at Prowl, and kicked the horses ribs with her heels. Champ took off, moving out of sight faster than Prowl had expected. He didn't really know why, but he _wanted_ to give chase. It seemed like a game to chase the woman on horseback, shouting something as she went. It looked like fun, like extreme tag almost. He wanted to see where the two were going, and Nellie had suggested it...

 

The ninja pounced, racing forward, trying to catch up with the human and beast, smiling all the while.

 

**X**

 

The sun was setting, painting the sky an abundance of reds and oranges, covering the magenta seeker with the light he hid from. He would admit it was beautiful, but not out loud. No, never out loud. There were several things that Starscream _did_ like about Earth, but there were hundreds more about it that he couldn't stand. That was why he left for the moon the second he got his body back. As beaten as it was when he came upon it, the Primus forsaken Allspark fragment in his helm gave it the strength to stand up and fly to the Earth Moon. He was on that cold dust ball for well over three years... plotting, seething, healing...

 

But now he was fully functional, alive, strong... and vengeful. Megatron was out there. The 'Great' Decepticon leader was anything but dead. Starscream knew this. He had waited far too long for Megatron to just die. He was the one to kill Megatron. He was to be supreme leader of the Decepticon race! Seekers were superior to ground-ponders, after all... no time for distractions. Starscream had plans in mind. He had been working up there, alone on that rock for far too long. He wanted a plaything. A human to mess with. He had made many little devices made to alter the delicate creatures. He had everything he needed for the foul organic. An oxygen box for safe keeping of course. And he had altered his cockpit to sustain a living being as well. The first time he had taken a human out of orbit, the cleanup was not pleasant. No, not pleasant at all.

 

The seeker thought, diving into the darkening air, transforming quickly. He needed someone, one who will not be missed. He frowned, scanning the faces of people below. “So many to choose from... I only need _one_ though....” The con landed on top of a tall building, sighing tiredly. He crossed his arms, rapping his long claw tips on a null-ray, frowning deeply. “But how to make such a _difficult_ decision...” Starscream turned his gaze to the world below. “So weak... and oh so blind...” His quiet musings turned into a sinister grin. “They don't even know I'm _up_ here . . .” Down below, he heard some voice calling out for someone to hurry up. With a careful lean forward, he saw a human. This human had it's face covered, and was looking into a trash receptacle. “Hmm, someone doesn't want to be seen...” He launched himself from the roof, circling before diving downward. “Perfect.”

 

“Cole, come on! We need to get moving!” Cole had been collecting bottles and cans to turn in for money, and he just _had_ to get a few more. From the dumpster. Wonderful...

 

Starscream turned on his side at the last second, reaching an arm down. The human made an impressive racket when his claws dug into the fabric over the abdomen, but it was silenced rather sharply when he accidentally smacked it's head into a wall. He didn't hear a cracking noise, but that didn't mean it was unharmed. “Oh you had _better_ not be offline...” He floated in the air, and lifted the human to his audio. The human groaned and moved a bit. “Good! I've had enough of human hunting today! Lets hope you survive the trip home.” The seeker chirped, a sadistic grin plastered across his faceplate.

 

When he heard the screaming, it took Cole a moment to look out. The dumpster lid was _heavy_! “Sarah... are...are you out there?” Cole looked out from the dumpster, but found no sign of his friend. He climbed out, landing on his feet. He looked around, frantic. Sarah was there a minute ago and- “Sarah!” He screamed. Where was she?! Cole looked around wildly, left, right, up... he looked up, and he saw eyes. Huge, half-crazed, crimson eyes, starring down from the fading sky. It seemed to put something... someone... in it's chest before it... split apart... and came together in the form of a JET?! What the hell was going on? Then, to his horror, he realized that thing had taken her. But... why? Why would anyone take Sarah?

 

He had to find help fast. Sarah was in danger. But who on Earth would believe him when he said his friend had been taken by a robotic jet? Oh, wait, the Autobots would help him! They dealt with crazy things like this all the time, right? All he had to do was find them... great. No one knew where they were, just that they were in Detroit. “Be okay Sarah. Please be okay...” He pulled the tattered blue hoody closer to himself and went on, hoping he would find what he needed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips coffee* Howdy.


	3. Trust

_Chapter Three: Trust_

 

_A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else. ~ Cardinal De Retz_

 

**X**

 

Prowl was in a foul mood. A very foul mood. Prime had, apparently, gotten tired of him leaving the base without giving probable cause. There was a brief argument, and then the ninja bot decided it was best for him to leave the room. He did have a temper, but he kept it on a very short leash. He had decided, for the sake of the crew and himself, he would go on the roof. No one bothered him when he went there. But, the truth was, he wanted to go off to visit Nellie. She was always happy to see him, always there to talk or listen, almost always wanting to engage him in some sort of activity... and now he had depressed himself. Just a little, but still. Nell was fun.

 

There was a creaking sound, and the ninja bot turned to see Sari coming onto the roof. She hadn't changed much since... the incident a few years ago. She still had the build of a teenager, but she had grown to control her powers. She had only used them a few times outside of battle, and when she did she always felt terrible afterwards. Her dark red eyes had long ago turned an icy blue, and her cute pigtails had been grown out to her shoulder blades and hung loose. The artificial skin on her left arm had been removed to reveal black plating to blue circuitry. She was truly a beautiful young lady. “...hey, Prowl.” He'd take Sari any day.

 

“Hello, Sari.”

 

“So what's gotcha on the roof, huh? You get in a fight with Prime?”

 

He chirruped. “You heard?”

 

“Prowl, half of Detroit heard you guys,” she said, giving him a goofy smile.

 

“...I see...” He mumbled. She sat down next to him, looking up with curiosity.

 

“I'm just wondering. Where _have_ you been going anyway?” Sari asked, cocking her head to one side playfully. “You get a girlfriend?” the bot was absolutely dumbstruck by that.

 

“No! No, not at all... I, um... did meet someone... well, found someone, a friend. Do you remember Nellie?”

 

The techno-teen beamed at him “Oh my god! You found Nellie?!” Sari squealed excitedly. She hugged his leg, which caught him off guard.

 

“Yes I... wasn't aware you missed her that much.”

 

Sari beamed at him, giggling. “Are you kidding me? She was one of my best friends! Well, after you guys of course.” He smiled down at her, but then frowned upon remembering his 'restriction'. “What? You should be happy! She's a sweetheart! I'm sure she likes you so... what's wrong?”

 

He sighed quietly. “Prime has decided that until I tell him where I'm going, I can't visit her.”

 

“Then... lie! You have fun out there, don't you? I think that if you have fun, you should go!” He looked at her like she was out of her mind.

 

“Sari, you know how I am about lying.” He hated to do it, but he'd do it if he had to. Or felt he had to.

 

“I know, but... you're not happy here, at least not right now, you want to go, and Prime's just doing it to look good for Ultra Magnus. Come on, you know that! Ultra Magnus isn't really paying attention, anyway.” Sari wanted him to go. All she wanted was for her friends to be happy. “Why not, next time you go out there, you ask her to come to the base?”

 

“Sari, you know we can't do that.”

 

“Hey, she was here a few years ago, remember?” She thought a minute, then said, “Well, she was but you didn't see her. I don't think...”

 

“She told me about that.” He still felt bad about that. She remembered him at a glance, and he couldn't remember her if he stared at her for hours on end.

 

“Oh, cool! So you like her or what?”

 

His visor shifted. “Excuse me?”

 

Sari put her hands up defensively, giving a nervous smile. “No, no I didn't mean LIKE like her or anything, silly ninja! I meant that, um... well, why do you like going back to her?”

 

He had to think of that one some. “There's... a lot I like about her. She's a good listener, even though I'm...pretty quiet. And she's honest. She's caring... and she loves nature, like... I do...” He looked at the sky. “Perfect cloud watching weather today...” He felt an urge to change the subject.

 

Sari giggled. “You miss her! I knew it! Hehehehe, you made a friend!”

 

He frowned at her, looking over the rooftops. “I suppose I have...” Prowl stood up quietly. He looked down at Sari, frowning lopsidedly. “...Do you... think you can cover for me?”

 

“Sure! Optimus won't know a thing. Promise!” She said to him as he dove off the roof. Sari grinned to herself, laying on her back. “He was right, great weather today.”

 

**X**

 

“Hello Nell!” Prowl said from the far end of the field. He still wasn't used to saying her name. She looked up at him, giving him that friendly smile.

 

“Hey Prowl! It's been a few days. I was getting a bit worried there.” Nellie said. Now this was a strange sight. Nell was on her back, in the middle of a field, with the black donkey a few feet away. The very fat donkey who could care less about the bot standing just feet away.

 

“My commander decided that until I show him where I've been going, I can't visit you.”

 

“Well, that worked didn't it?” She said with mild sarcasm. “Any particular reason he wants to do that? Like, is it 'I'm an asshole' day or something?”

 

“No, he just likes to keep tabs on his crew. To make sure they're in reach.” He stated matter-of-factually. He looked at the donkey, who looked at him with little interest. “So, Nell, why are you out here?”

 

“Well, Brandy's pregnant. She's due in a few weeks really. So, I'm just spending all my free time with her, keeping an eye on her. Sometimes the birth times can be off a few days,” she said from the ground. She looked up at him, grinning. “Sit. It's a nice day...”

 

“Yes. It is a nice day.” He sat down next to her, then slowly eased his way onto his back. She giggled at him, which was confusing. He hadn't done anything funny... “What?” He sat up, looking on his back. “Did I lay on a land mine?” Nellie was now giggling like a maniac.”What's so funny Nell?”

 

“It's just... well you act like you've never laid down before is all.”

 

“...I have lain down, just not very often.” Did he just say lain?

 

“Did you just say 'lain'?” She grinned up at him. “Go on, lay down. No land mines out here. I don't think Brandy's gonna give birth any time soon, but I'm not taking any chances.”

 

“I can see the point of that.” The ninja bot laid back, putting his hands behind his helm. They were quiet for a while. He couldn't think of anything to say. That wasn't a problem, he liked quiet.

 

Nellie spoke up after about twenty minutes.“This is gonna sound pretty out of the blue here but... are you any good at singing?” She had propped herself up on one elbow, grinning curiously.

 

He chuckled at that, looking at her with a light smile. “I wouldn't know. I've never tried.” he could hum, and he knew it, but singing? That was different.

 

“...I bet you could...” Nellie said, going back to folding her hands behind her head. There she was, doing it again. She just stared off at the sky, looking for something. “...if you wanted to. You'd probably be pretty good.”

 

Prowl thought a moment. What music did he know exactly? He didn't know that much. He preferred the sound of rain or birds. He thought for a while longer, and started quietly. “Well, I had a dream I... I stood beneath an orange sky...” Prowl tried it a bit louder this time. “With my brother standing by... said brother you know... it's a long road we've been walking on...” Then he fell silent. “Uh...That's... really all I know from that one.” That was a little strange, singing. He had never tried before. He could hum, even though it was closer to chanting, and now he knew he could sing. The ninja bot looked at Nell. She was smiling.

 

“...now _that_ was nice...” She mumbled. He wasn't sure, but he thought he had seen her blushing. Now _that_ he couldn't understand.

 

**X**

 

It was pretty dark, wherever Sarah was. And it was cold too. When she tried to sit up, she found immense pain across her stomach. There was a weight on her stomach, and she was reaching down to feel it when she heard-

 

“Ah, finally, you're awake!” Said a raspy voice from her left. Sarah turned her head to look, but found she couldn't see anything, even with her eyes open. “Oh, right, I need to remove that thing first...” Said the voice, getting closer. There was a whirring sound, and something sharp grabbed at her face. She pulled back, starting to remember what had happened. Something, some sort of robot, had taken her... away from Cole! Where was her friend?!

 

“Where is he? Where's Cole?!” She screamed at the shadowed form. It seemed to move, like to look at her.

 

“Cole? I didn't take any Cole...” The robot thought a minute, hand on it's chin. Then it slammed it's free hand into a wall, making a loud 'thoom' sound. Sarah jumped, scooting back. It was angry. That wasn't good. He could kill her with a finger and she had pissed him off! Well, she guessed it was a male... did robots even have genders? “Slag it to the almighty _pit_! I _knew_ I should have kept looking,” he sort of growled. Then, the robot turned, showing bright red eyes and giving her this dark, nonchalant smile. “...Oh well! Too late to return you now. You aren't in any condition to return to earth, mind you.” The thing frowned at her, before breaking out into a wide smile. “At least, not yet,” it said in a sing-song voice. She couldn't see him too well, and she really wanted to get a closer look at him. The instant she moved, her stomach erupted in pain. She gave a small scream, hands going to wrap herself into a ball. “Ah... I would be a bit more careful, if I were you, little one.” There was a dull chuckle from his end.

 

“What... did you...” Sarah's eyes widened in panic, and her hands slid down to her stomach, hoping to just find bandages. Her hands went to find something that made her hand recoil in fear. Wires. There were wires inside her! He had put wires inside her! The sick bastard! She grabbed the thick bundle with both hands and tugged, screaming when pain filled her insides. He was on her a second later, teeth bared to show fangs.

 

“Stop tugging at it, human! Do you _want_ to die?!” He screeched darkly, pinning her none too gently to the floor. He looked down at her, eyes lit with a fury she didn't know. “Slag it... if you go bleeding out on me like the last one I swear to Primus I'll...!” He stopped suddenly, lifting up from her. He kept growling, leaving her sight after a moment. He was terrifying in the right light. A purple chest, wider than her arms could reach. Long, powerful arms. Huge, red eyes narrowed from anger and knowledge. A long, silver face, somewhat wolf-like. He had claws, massive claws that he flexed in warning. He was a monster. But at the same time... he was stunning. It was terrifying. Much like her on those days the... oh dear god where was her bandanna?!

 

“Where is it! Where is IT?!” she screamed, covering her face with bloody hands. To her horror, she found there were... loops in her face. One in her nose, bottom lip, the left eyebrow, and two in the upper ear. Her breathing grew heavy and she grabbed her shoulders in fear. He could see her face and had made her even uglier! Why did this have to keep happening?! He obviously couldn't vomit or he would have already! Maybe he already did... she whimpered.

 

“Where is what human? Why are you screaming now?” He looked at her sideways, tilting his head. “Oh my, you sure know how to bleed... we can fix that...” He seemed to be smiling, which just pushed Sarah's temper over the limit.

 

“My name is Sarah dammit! Where did you put my bandanna?!” Okay, maybe swearing at the massive robot was a bad idea. But he just turned his head the other way, picking a few things up and putting them in the opposite hand. His fingertips looked like they could shred her to bits. He seemed to be ignoring her for now. Then he froze, seeming to be in thought.

 

“Oh, you mean that disgusting thing you had over your mouth? Yes, I used it for target practice. I had to have it removed to finish your... alterations...” He walked over to her, sitting down. She looked past him to see these... jet wings protruding from his back. He blinked in confusion at her strange look of fascination. The look changed into one of warning, and he pointed a finger at her. “Don't pull those rings out of your face, either. They help you breath... and keep your eyes from imploding.” She was still watching his wings. He frowned. “Hmm, you seem easily distracted... My name is Lord Starscream. Like you'll remember.” He didn't think the human would add 'Lord' to his name, but he may as well try. With caution and a low glare, he dabbed the blood coming from Sarah's navel with a sterile cloth. “No more tugging these. Infections of the navel don't work well with humans.”

 

“...how do you know that?” He was strangely delicate in cleaning her, which wasn't a word she thought she'd use for him. Those claws he had... they were horrifying. At least he wasn't using them on her.

 

“Hmm... I guess I could say practice, but you might start pulling wires out again...” He looked down at her with this strange look on his face, and pinned her down with his palm. “This will hurt, try not to move.” Sarah glared at him. What was with this guy? He was all sadistic then calm then prissy... he had robot PMS or something, she was sure.

 

“What are you? BipolaaAAAAAARRRR!!!” There was a searing pain on her abdomen, right near her navel. Her first instinct was to run, but he had her pinned. “Let me go! LET ME GO!” He held her still, and she grabbed two of his fingers from the pain. He didn't seem to mind, let alone care.

 

“Just relax, and trust me, it will end soon. I just need to cauterize this...” Soon, the pain faded, and Sarah was a quivering mass on his hand. He frowned at that. He sometimes forgot how fragile they were. He pulled his hand free and stroked her arm awkwardly. He had never been good at comforting. Stress was terrible on humans. He didn't want her crashing because he tried to fix her. He didn't mind that she flinched. It would have been strange if she _liked_ him touching her. As soon as his hand pulled away, she pushed herself into the farthest place she could.

 

Starscream shook his head at the petrified human in the corner. For once, he wasn't _trying_ to inflict pain on someone. He knew he didn't have to do these experiments, but the urge... the need... the desire... it was more important. He needed control over someone. Make them need him. He smirked. “The wires should be out in about an earth month... less so if you're a fast healer and stop trying to pull them out...” He stopped talking after a moment. Sarah was lying on her side, arms wrapped around herself, trying to hide. Oh well, she'd get used to it. She'd have to. She was his pet now. He wasn't the type to just let his pets go when they got hostile. Shoot them, maybe, but let them go loose where they could get hurt? No.

 

Never.

 

**X**

 

“A duck.”

 

“I see a shoe.”

 

“I swear to you, it looks like a duck!”

 

“If you say so.”

 

“Well it does! ...to me at least.”

 

The cloud above looked nothing like a duck to Prowl. It looked like a shoe. Well, a sandal actually. How could a sandal look like a duck?

 

“So... how are things at the base?”

 

“Hmm?” Prowl turned his head, mouth open a bit. That was unexpected. “Well... the Elite Guard aren't too bad... Sentinel Prime is still... Sentinel. Jazz is an Earth fanatic, from what I understand. Ultra Magnus has Optimus on edge. He hasn't instructed him to _do_ anything and he's all tensed up. He needs to learn to relax. I tried getting him to meditate once, he didn't really understand the concept. He tried at least...” He sat up suddenly. “Bumblebee is as rowdy as ever. Bulkhead has picked up painting again. He's interesting to watch. Ratchet has been watching an older television program called ER. ...and that's really it.”

 

“Hmm, sounds like you never get a second to yourself.” He nodded and stood up.

 

“It's peaceful out here... with you...” she was blushing again, but just barely. He was surprised he even noticed.

 

“Well, that's why I moved out here. The city of Detroit is a madhouse! And, well, I've always loved horses...”

 

He smiled. “You've made that clear...” The bot thought for a moment, and looked down at Nell. “I spoke with Sari today. She is... very excited to know I have found you.” Nellie was pulling herself to her feet with the help of Brandy, wrapping an arm around her neck and rising with a grunt. “She suggested that you come out to the base. She's very excited by just hearing about you, and I'm sure she'd be even more so if you came out to visit.”

 

Nellie blinked. “That sounds great. I'm flattered, I think. But...uh...”

 

“But?” Okay, that got him confused.

 

“I don't know Prowl... I've changed a lot. A whole lot... and from what you've told me, I won't like some of these 'Elite Guard' bots.” She played idly with a tuft of Brandy's mane. He put his hands on his hips, then got to one knee and looked at her, elbow on the upright knee. She looked straight at him, sort of confused. “What? I just don't want to go.” She crossed her arms at him, trying to stand firm. “Besides, I can't exactly pick up and leave. I have a job out here.”

 

“I understand that but... think of it this way. You haven't seen Sari in years from what I've heard. I know Bumblebee would like to see you. Jazz loves humans, and he's a ninja, like I am...” He smiled down at her. She wasn't shy around him at all. He tried a different approach. “I'll be there too. And you know me. You know Sari and the others... and Prime will see the reason I've been away from the base so much...” He didn't know why he did it, but he put his fingers, very carefully, on her shoulder. “Please, Nell. Will you at least give it a try?” He smiled, cocking his head.

 

Nellie blinked at his fingers. They very warm, to be honest. She realized she hadn't touched him before now. It was funny. The first time he touched her was him talking her into something. She was half expecting him to be cold, but he wasn't. He felt safe. The only reason she herself never made contact was that, Prowl, to her at least, didn't seem like the kind of guy...bot... that wanted to be touched. She sighed. “I'll... have to get it planned out so that there aren't any issues with my horses. But yeah... yeah I'll try it.”

 

She didn't recall seeing him smile that wide as he did then.


	4. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, finally, some more robots.

_Chapter Four: Time_

 

_Time is the wisest counselor of all. ~Pericles_

 

**X**

 

“Gimme a minute!” Nell said, running around the loft in pants and a bra. Prowl stood at the edge of the loft, back toward Nell. Humans needed privacy, which he was willing to give.

 

“There's no rush. Sari can wait a while longer.” It was about one on a Friday. They had plenty of time. “Take your time, Nell.” He said quietly. He had learned that human females were a bit more meticulous with grooming themselves then males. Nell was proving this knowledge. There was a crashing noise, and Prowl turned around to find Nell on her back, pushing herself to her feet. His visor widened. “Are you alright?” She looked embarrassed but intact.

 

“Yeah, I'm fine. Foot fell asleep on me... is all.” She wasn't as much embarrassed as she was annoyed. She was going to get one hell of a bruise on her back, she knew. Nell had the feeling her leg was going to give out, but did she sit down? Nope, she just _had_ to get that shirt. “Lets try this again...” She walked over to her bed, and reached into the night stand, pulling out a black tank-top with white around the collar. She had on blue jeans and tan sneakers. Nell blinked, lifted an arm, and sniffed. “Ugh... I should have showered.”

 

“What makes you say that?” he said, looking at her over his shoulder.

 

“I smell _awful_ , that's why. Seriously, I'm gonna have to shower.” Now she was in a foul mood. She could have just put on deodorant, but she didn't think an extra scent would help things. Tropical breeze, grass and coffee together? No thank you. She started tugging at the bottom of her shirt.

 

The side of Prowl's visor shifted a bit. “I don't smell anything bad. At least not from you,” he said, referring to the horses. Beautiful though they were, they didn't smell good at all. He turned around, and raised his arm, motioning her over with his hand. “Let me see. Our olfactory senses are much stronger than humans are...” When Nell tilted her head at him, he tried again. “I mean, we have a fantastic sense of smell, and I don't smell what you're saying you smell at all. At least from over here.”

 

“So... what? You _want_ to smell me?” She said, surprised. This was more than odd.

 

“If it's alright.” Prowl said, smiling a bit. Nell blinked at him, and walked over to him, standing still. She wasn't sure what to do exactly. He got on one knee, leaning forward, one hand behind her back. “Does this make you uncomfortable? If it does, tell me, and I'll stop.”

 

“Okay, Prowl...” This was strange but not uncomfortable. Prowl nodded and leaned down, hand just touching her back. He took in a few breaths, moving around her a bit. Her skin didn't have much smell, but it was there. He moved up to her hair, and smelled. There was the source of the scent. She smelled like fresh grass and coffee. How was that a bad thing? He liked it.

 

“...most of the smell is in your hair. That's why it's so strong.” He said, leaning back to look at her.

 

“So does that mean I should just wash my hair?” She asked, blinking.

 

“Not at all. None of us will mind. I like the smell...” He said, turning back around. Nell raised an eyebrow at him, then climbed down the ladder. Prowl jumped down, landing next to Nell. “Are you ready then?” They walked outside, and Nell shook her head.

 

“Gotta wait for Pat,” she said. A minute later, an old beater truck ambled up the gravel driveway. It pulled up to the barn, and a human stepped out.

 

“Hey, Nell! Sorry I'm late.” The human was a strange sight. A pierced eyebrow, spiked black hair, a sleeveless vest and a white shirt. They had ripped jeans, combat boots, and barbed wire tattooed on the left arm. “Had a problem down at Mike's. Had to fix a boot.” They stopped. The human looked at Prowl, raising a studded brow. “Well, aren't you a tall one...” They said.

 

Prowl's visor shifted. “Thank you?” Nell walked forward and hugged Pat.

 

“Thank you so much for this. I owe you, I really do,” She said, Pat lifting her off the ground.

 

“No problem, sweetheart. I'll see you on Monday, k?” Pat set her down, waving them off. “You two have fun!” Nell waved at Pat. Prowl transformed behind her.

 

“Alright. Climb on.” Nell cocked her head. “Is something wrong?”

 

“No, it's just...” She pushed herself from her heals to her toes, rocking herself. “Well, what if I fart?”

 

He had never thought of that. “We'll get to that when we get to that. Climb on.” He revved his engine in a friendly manner, and Nell climbed aboard, holding the handlebars like a lifeline. “So Nell, you ever ride with an Autobot before?”

 

“Prowl, this is the first time I've been on a _motorcycle_.” She said, gripping tight.

 

“That explains your feet then. Lift them up and push them back,” he instructed. The bot had learned recently that his alt form required the rider to lay on their stomach, but only when ridden properly. He wanted it done properly for safety. Nell getting hit in the face with a June-bug didn't sound like it would end well.

 

“Okay, so what do I do now?” Nell asked

 

“Well, for starters, you'll want to hold on,” he said before peeling out of the driveway, sending gravel flying. Nell made a squealing noise that turned into a happy laugh.

 

“This is fun! Whoo!” she yelled.

 

“There's no need to yell, Nell. I can hear you just fine.” The voice came from the windshield.

 

“Oh, so there you are,” she said, leaning down to talk to him. This looked funny, she was sure. “I'm just curious, but, where does your head go?” she asked, smiling.

 

“...that's a good question.” He honestly had no idea. That was an odd feeling, not knowing where his head was. He knew it was there, but he didn't know where. She giggled. It was quiet for a while before he spoke up.

 

“I don't mean to pry, but... are you and Pat together?” sweetheart was a term of endearment that humans used, and Pat had used it for Nell.

 

“Pat's androgynous, Prowl,” the woman riding him said into the windshield.

 

That confused him. “Humans can choose androgyny?” Technically, he and the others were androgynous. There was no real difference between a mech and a femme but body style. Voices could be changed later to fit preference and size. He had been told before that he himself was rather feminine, but in some rather crude terms. It was taken in stride. Ninjas had to be rather slender. But humans were organic, so how did that even work?

 

“No, not exactly. Pat's still a woman, but she didn't like having a gender. Hated gender roles, I don't blame her. She's my farrier, does all the horse shoes and tooth checks. Great person to know. She says it's 'fun' to have people guess what she is. Hell, first time I met her I said she was a cute guy. That got me a bear hug...” Nell stopped talking. She seemed to have run out of things to say. He left it alone. She didn't answer his question exactly, but he assumed the answer was no.

 

**X**

 

The two pulled into the base, Optimus and Bumblebee standing out front. Bumblebee nudged Optimus' side, and mumbled. “Think she'll remember us?”

 

“We're kinda hard to forget, Bumblebee,” he said. Nell climbed off of Prowl, shaking her legs to get the feeling back. “So then, Prowl, who's this?” he asked, pointing at the woman.

 

Nell stretched her arms over her head, then looked at Optimus. “Oh, come on. How do you not remember me? I drove you crazy with the lumberjack song, remember?” she said, grinning.

 

Prowl's visor shifted. “The... lumberjack song?” he asked. Bumblebee snickered. Optimus continued to play dumb, as humans called it.

 

“What on Earth is a 'lumberjack'?” the red and blue Prime asked the human. “Alright, so you annoyed me with something called 'The Lumberjack Song', yes? Care to refresh my memory?”

 

Nell blinked in irritation. “You're serious. Okay, lets try this, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay?” She waited a moment, and frowned. “Nope, they don't remember me, Prowl.” She stuck her hands in her pockets. “Take me home dude, they don't remember.” Optimus cleared his throat, leaned down, and said as close as he could to her head,

 

“I sleep all night and I work all day.” Nell turned around, eyebrow raised.

 

“I thought you hated that song?”

 

“You didn't sing it now, did you?” Nell smiled at him, and he smiled back. “How have you been, Nell?”

 

“Oh, me? I've been good. What about you, big guy?”

 

“Hey! What about me?” Bumblebee said, grinning.

 

“I'm getting to you, Bumbles. Calm down.”

 

“Oh, so it's back to that is it?” He said, smiling. “Man Prowl, how do you handle this maniac?”

 

“Maniac?” There was nothing manic about Nell that he knew.

 

“Oh, you just wait, ninja bot. She's crazy.” He said, looking at the human now circling him. Nell walked around his legs, looking from left to right.

 

“Who are looking for, Nellie?” Optimus said, mouth crooked.

 

“Sari. Knowing her, she is going to tackle me.” She looked up at Optimus, hands at her sides. “I don't know about you, but I don't want to kiss the ground today.” She looked over her shoulder, and turned around to look at Optimus again. “I think I'm sa-OOF!” A blur of yellow and red came from behind Optimus's leg, shoving Nell onto her back. Optimus blinked.

 

“NELLIE!” And down she went, Sari straddling her. Nell blinked, a little more than shocked. She wasn't one for being tackled, let alone straddled. Sari giggled at her before taking a deep breath. “OhmygodIneverthoughtI'dseeyouagainwherehaveyoubeen?!” Sari's words came out as a blurb. Nell blinked again.

 

“Okay, you have to slow down. Did he give you coffee or something?” she said, pointing at Optimus, he was smiling. The woman smiled at her, hugging her friend happily. “Oh wow, you shot up like a root. What are you Sari? Six foot?” She said, Sari pulling Nell to her feet.

 

“Probably.” She said, grinning down at the woman. Nell frowned.

 

“Great. I'm a midget,” she giggled again. Sari got up and helped her to her feet. Nell stared for a moment, and said. “...you're gonna drag me around like the last time I was here, aren't you?”

 

Sari giggled. “Nope... Bumblebee's gonna carry you.”

 

Nell sighed. “Okay, that's good to kn-no, no, put me down! Put me down, horn boy!” Bumblebee picked her up, smiling.

 

“Don't worry shorty, I do this all the time,” he said before picking up Sari and heading inside.

 

“When has abducting someone been a good plan?” the woman asked, Bee throwing her over a shoulder and darting out of sight.

 

The two bots stood there. Optimus looked at Prowl, hands on his hips. “Well, if that's the reason you've been 'disappearing' these past couple weeks... I guess it's fine,” he said with a shrug. Prowl gave a very light smile. “Just, from now on, tell me so we don't argue about it, clear?”

 

“Very clear, Prime.” Prowl jumped onto the roof, leaving his leader on the ground. Optimus walked inside the base, heading into the workshop to talk to Ratchet.

 

“So, Ratchet... you see Nellie?” Optimus asked the medibot carefully.

 

“Yep. Sure has changed, I'll give her that,” he grumbled, cleaning a laser scalpel.

 

“Yeah, last I saw her she was... well, smaller... I guess.” He wasn't really sure what he was saying.

 

“Well, people do change, kid. People do change...” The last part was a rumble. Optimus blinked. He wasn't one for cryptic messages, and decided to leave the older bot alone.

 

**X**

 

Bulkhead looked up when Bumblebee dropped a human on the floor. “Ow!” The human looked at Bumblebee with a low glare, and looked over at Bulkhead. The human blinked. “Hi,” she said, walking over to him. She was a little bigger than one of his larger fingers. Tiny human. She looked at his canvas, tilting her head to the side. “...it looks like a gerbil... with a paddle.”

 

“Actually, it's a mango with a cheese grater.” the green behemoth said. “Are you who I think you are?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Well... who do you think I am?” she asked, smiling.

 

Bulkhead blinked at the woman, and said dully, “I think you're nuts.”

 

“And you're bolts,” she said. “Glad to see you, Bulkhead.”

 

The green behemoth smiled at her. “Glad to see you too, Nellie. Ya look great, by the way,” He said. Nell smiled.

 

“Thanks Bulkhead-!” Sari grabbed Nell by the arm, dragging her to a pair of bots she'd never seen before.

 

“Hey guys! Come here! I want you to meet Nell!” Sari called over to the pair of winged bots, one blue, one yellow. The two looked at each other, looked at Nellie, and left the room.

 

Nell cocked her head. “Are they okay?”

 

Bumblebee looked down at Nell, “They were told that organics were poisonous. Like one of those poison dart frogs,” he said, wiggling his fingers.

 

“Who would tell them that?” Nell asked. She couldn't understand that. Humans weren't poisonous.

 

“That jerk, Sentinel Prime.” Sari said, crossing her arms. “He's always bad-mouthing organics. He really doesn't like me.”

 

“Eh, he doesn't like anyone, Sari,” Bumblebee said, rolling his optics.

 

“I don't like him already.” Nell mumbled, looking around. She'd dealt with closed minded people before, it didn't always end well. There was an awkward silence in the group.

 

Bulkhead didn't look up from his painting. “And cue the exploding snail,” he said, switching to red paint.

 

Sari burst out laughing. “Oh my god you remember that?” she said, now a giggling mess on the floor. Nell had her face in her hands, giggling too.

 

“That was one of the dumbest arguments I ever got into.” Nell said, pulling her face up to look for Bumblebee. “Hmm? Sari, where'd Bumblebee go?”

 

“I don't know... Bumblebee! Where'd ya go?” Sari called out.

 

“I'm over here. Hey Nell, can you do me a big favor?” He asked, giving the woman this sideways grin.

 

“I don't have to shave, right?” She asked.

 

“Why would you have to... just come here! I wanna try something...” Nell looked skeptically at the yellow bot. He tried a puppy-eyed look, but Nell only frowned. “Please, Nell? It's for those Jet Twins from before.” He said. Nell blinked again, and sighed.

 

“Fine...” She walked to the happy, yellow bot. “Okay, so what are you planning?”

 

He handed her a few marshmallows, showing her a half empty bag. “Just stay here, and eat them.” He left the room, before poking his horned head back in to say, “And try to smile while you do.” The shorter bot was gone.

 

Nell blinked at the yellow bot, then at the squishy white puffs. “...when was the last time I ate these?” She said, stuffing one into her mouth. She smiled. Pure sugar. Hooray. Sugar high, here she came.

 

“What is it you wanting to show us, Bumblebee?” A Russian accented voice said. Nell swallowed, looking at the doorway. The twins looked at her like she would a tarantula.

 

“Aw, be nice. Nellie, these are the twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm! ...go on, guys, say hello!” The two did nothing. “Come on! She's tame! She'll take the marshmallow right out of your hands!” The two looked at each other, and slowly inched toward the female. The blue jet put his hands on the orange jets back panels, pushing. The orange bot shook his head.

 

“I am with you, brother.” the blue one said, half pushing the orange one, half hiding behind him. Nell raised an eyebrow at the pair, then stepped forward. This orange one had a marsh mellow in his hand. He looked a little freaked out, which only confused the height challenged human.

 

Nell looked at the two bots, giving a lopsided frown. “Bumbles, what do I do here?”

 

“What do you mean? You _eat_ the _marshmallow,_ ” he said, pointing at the twins.

 

“Please, no melting off my fingers! I needs them for grabbing,” Jetfire said, holding his hand down. Nell blinked, and took a step forward. The twins stepped back. She blinked and tried again. The two backed up again. The woman sighed, obviously aggravated.

 

“Hold. Still.” She said, grabbing the orange jet twin by the fingers. Nell wrapped an arm around the three she could, holding on for dear life when the two backed up yet again. If she could handle Shylock, she could handle this. Well, she hoped so. Nell grabbed the marshmallow, shoved it into her mouth carefully, and ate it. The jet twins watched her cautiously. “Got anymore?” She asked politely.

 

The two blinked. They still had their limbs intact, they didn't catch anything fatal, and the human was friendly and warm. Jetstorm held out a marshmallow

 

“You is not dangerous?” Jetfire asked.

 

“Not at all,” Nell said, eating the marshmallow.

 

“Short one is not acid spitting plating melter?” Jetstorm asked.

 

“Of course I'm not,” she said. These two were like preteens. She let go of Jetfire, dropping to the floor.

 

“So... we can touch you?” Jetstorm asked, holding a hand over her head.

 

Nellie blinked. Well, this was different. “Uh... yes?” The two gave her that same look Sari gave her just before Bumblebee picked her up. Her eyes went wide.

 

“Oh crap, not again!” Nell said as the blue twin picked her up and left the room, the yellow twin following close behind. Bumblebee laughed when they went out of sight he realized he had given them the bag of marsh mellows.

 

**X**

 

“What is all this stringy stuff for?” Jetfire asked, carefully pinching some with his fingers and dropping it. He liked how it moved, but not so much the color. The stringy stuff would look better if it were bright green, not light brown. It was still a lot of fun to play with.

 

“That's my hair,” Nell said, smiling. “Don't tug it too hard. It hurts if you do.” These two were so curious about the human body. And they were pretty careful. They had run out of marsh mellows about twenty minutes ago, but that was alright. Nell wasn't going anywhere. Jetfire was holding her in one hand, Jetstorm close by.

 

“We is being careful with you, short one,” Jetstorm said, poking her stomach.

 

“Not again! Don't tickle me, mercy!” She felt like a four-year-old, getting all hyper about this. She had eaten too many marsh mellows, she knew. She'd have a headache in the morning, but she was having a great time.

 

“What is this mercy, Brother?” The blue twin said, smirking.

 

“I think it is meaning to go faster, yes?” The orange twin said.

 

“That was my thinking, brother!” Jetstorm said, adding more fingers.

 

“Good to be knowing, brother!” said Jetfire, joining in with his free hand.

 

Nellie screamed, swatting at the pair and laughing like a madman. So what if she was acting like she was four? They were having fun!

 

“You two! Put that thing down before you catch something!” There was a really loud voice from the left. Nell looked to see a dark blue bot with a big chin. He looked really pissed off and really important. He had the same marking that the Twins had, a red face with wings. He had this loud, foghorn voice. Nell didn't like loud noises that much.“What have I said about touching those things?”

 

“But, Sentinel Prime sir, it was eating fluffy sugar things!” Said Jetfire, holding a panting Nell up to the angry sounding bot. The bot, Sentinel, snorted and pulled back.

 

“Ya! And is funny when you touch the torso parts!” Jetstorm leaned over and wiggled a finger on Nell's stomach, making her giggle.

 

“No! Not again! PLEASE!” the woman said, trying to stop the finger at her stomach.

 

“I said put that thing down! It'll leak on you if you're not careful.” Sentinel growled. The finger stopped, and Nell was reluctantly placed on the floor, the Twins saluting the blue bot and racing out of site. “Glitch-heads, what were they thinking?” He mumbled.

 

“Hey, they weren't hurting me. Cool it.” Nell said, smiling. She had a _very_ sensitive belly.

 

“Oh great, now it's talking. Hello! How! Are! You!” He muttered the first half, and said the second half slow and loud. Nell frowned, wincing at his bullhorn voice.

 

“Dude, no need to yell. I'm right here,” she said, crossing her arms at him. Two minutes with this guy and she didn't like him.

 

“Don't 'dude' me, _organic,_ ” he sneered.

 

“Well, don't yell at me, _robot,_ ” she said, frowning.

 

“You say robot like it's a _bad_ thing,” Sentinel said cockily. He crossed his arms over his wide chest plate, and leered down at her. “You're just a bag of _meat,_ ”

 

“And you're a big blue prick,” the woman said blankly.

 

He growled at her again. “Prick? Pfft! That all you can do, filthy meat-bag?”

 

Nell was about to say something, but she stopped and shook her head. “You know what? You're just like my mother,” Nell said, smiling.

 

“I'm flattered.” Sentinel growled at her.

 

“Oh really? You shouldn't be. I hate my mother,” she said with sarcastic happiness.

 

The navy bot growled, teeth bared. “Why you LITTLE!”

 

“'scuse me Sentinel!” Someone said from behind her.

 

A light blue hand came from behind Nell, scooping her up and leaving the room. Sentinel yelled something at them, and the 'hand' stopped. The woman turned her body around, looking at the one who picked her up. “I gotta say Optimus, you need to work on timing.”

 

He looked at her, mouth off to the side and optics half open. He was annoyed. “You'll want to avoid Sentinel. He's anti-organic,” he said quietly.

 

“Really, I would never have guessed.” She said. A second after, she looked away. “Sorry... didn't mean to fly off the handle.”

 

“That was anything but flying off of the handle, Nell. Don't even think about it. He gets to everyone eventually. Even gets to me some days.”

 

“Someone getting under your armor? _Bull_.” She winked at him, and he smiled as he set her down.

 

“Oh, trust me, he's pretty good at being a glitch-head. Not much else though.” He walked off, Nell following him at a light jog. “So, I hear you met the Twins.”

 

“Oh my yes...” she said smiling. “If Sentinel's their roll model, then I'm a little more than worried. Where are we going?”

 

“Hmm? Oh! Uh...” The red bot thought a minute. “I'm going to the main room. Prowl is probably in his room... unless you want to come with me.”

 

“No thanks big guy. I'll see you around.” The woman said, going around a corner.

 

Optimus blinked. “Nellie, his room's the other way.” Nell came around the corner a minute later, waving a thank you. She went out of sight. The red bot smiled and kept walking. “Hasn't changed a bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you're still here? Cool.


	5. Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course we remember the person we never met!

Chapter Five: Fun

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. ~ Katherine Hepburn. 

X

“Tree's doing great, man,” the white bot said. 

“Thank you. I try to keep it healthy,” Prowl said to Jazz with a smile. The screen was down, so anyone who wanted in would have to trigger the sensor. Nell was not that tall. Prowl knew this.

“Hello? Hello! Is someone in there?” Someone called from behind the screen. Jazz cocked his head, and Prowl looked on, smiling. “Hey! I passed this screen here about eight times because I thought it was a storage room. I can hear you in there Prowl. Open the screen? Please?” She was getting annoyed. 

“You know who's out there?” Jazz asked quietly, still grinning. 

Prowl nodded. “Just wait. This is Nellie.” 

“Solid.”

“Prowl? Are you in there? Don't make me think I'm hearing things, I can't handle being crazy,” she said quietly. Nothing. She tapped on the screen, frowning. “This is not funny. Don't make me come in there. Alright, you know what? Don't let me in, and you can see how the goes.” Nell said. Jazz chuckled. Reverse psychology did not work ninjas. Nell did not know this.

“She's gonna go through the screen, bro. Better let her in,” he said. 

“The screen is cloth. She'll find a way.” He was having far too much fun, but he didn't really care. 

“Okay, I heard you that time. . . fine then, know what? Here I come!” She had no idea what she was doing. The screen was pretty solid, like she'd ever run through it. So, she took the easy way and crawled under the screen, poking her head inside. “I thought you were in here. I went by this room-” She pulled herself forward with a grunt, standing up and dusting herself off. “-and was about to ask where you were when I heard the voices.” She looked up at Jazz, and waved at the white bot. He looked like he was wearing headphones. “Hello there.” 

“Hey there, little lady. My name's Jazz. What do they call you?” The white bot said, hands on knees, grinning. 

“They call me a lot of things, but you can call me Nell,” she said, smiling back. She liked this bot, he seemed pretty mellow. He had the same red face with wings on his chest. Okay, another one, so far it was up to four. Just how many were there? 

“Solid. Nice to meet you, Nell,” he said, straightening up. 

“Nice to meet you too, Jazz.” She said. She looked at Prowl, smirking. “And you. I know that you knew that I was behind the screen.” She put her arms in the air. “But did you come over to help me inside? Oh no! Let the short person figure it out on her own...” She frowned when he said nothing. “Fine, know what? I'm just gonna ignore you for a few minutes, see how you like that.” Nell then sat down, back to Prowl. “So Jazz...” 

“Yeah?” Jazz said, smiling. 

“What can we do? You and I? I'm ignoring him.” 

“You're not ignoring me if you acknowledge my existence, Nell,” Prowl said from the tree limb. 

“Did you hear that?” She asked Jazz. Jazz grinned. This woman was funny. 

“Nope, not a thing. So whatcha have in mind?” 

“No idea. You?” 

Jazz looked over at Prowl, who still had his back turned. “Well, I heard you met the Twins. Tell me 'bout that.” 

“Oh, they were a blast! They tickled me and fed me marsh mellows.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Not the best combination, but I couldn't say no to them. That'll explain my bounciness today.” She smiled at him. 

“Yeah, I've been there with those two. Younglings...what can ya do?” the white bot said, shrugging. “Heard you met SP too.” He smirked. “And I heard you called him your uncle or something. Twins told me, so...” He grinned, sitting down. He liked this little human. He could see why Prowl had taken such a liking to her. “Got any dirt?” 

“Well, I said 'You remind me of my mother.' He said something stupid, and I said 'I hate my mother.' And then Optimus came in and got me the hell out of there.” She didn't like Sentinel and she'd only been in the same room with him for about two minutes. Same thing would happen with her mom. 

That got Prowl's attention. “You don't like your mother?” 

Nell ignored him. Jazz spoke up. “Huh, don't like ya mom, Nell?” 

Her smile faded a bit. “Lets just say she and Sentinel's views on me are a lot alike.” 

“Narrow-minded and rude, eh?” he said, smiling still. 

“Yep. But It doesn't matter. She's out of my life.” She looked around, fidgeting a bit. 

“...maybe we should change the subject.” Prowl said. Nell was clearly uncomfortable, and he didn't want that. 

“So, Nell, what kind of music ya like?” Jazz said, seeming to agree with Prowl. 

“A lot... and you?” The woman said quietly. Jazz smiled. 

“I love Earth music. We don't have it back home.” 

Her eyes went wide. “Holy... how do you survive without music?” 

He laughed. “I got a lot of music from the Internet. Brought it back to Cybertron with me. Wanna check it out?” 

“Sure thing...” She looked at Prowl, who was sitting in the tree, looking up at something. “So where we heading?” 

“The Elite Guard ship. Mind if I carry you?” He put his hand down, grinning. He had a good smile. 

“What a gentlemen you are. Thank you.” Nell crawled into his hand, sitting cross legged. She looked over at Prowl, and said in a loud voice. “Well, looks like I'm getting abducted again! I'll be back later.” A second later, Jazz left the room with her in his hand. 

Prowl looked at Nell. She seemed happy now. He smiled, and leaned back on the tree limb, letting the sun warm him. He was a happy bot. 

X

Sentinel wasn't doing anything, but there was no surprise there. He walked by Jazz's quarters, and grumbled at the sounds coming from within. Earth music was one of Jazz's biggest passions and one of his biggest pet peeves. Humans were annoying enough without hearing them 'sing.' Singing was a useless 'talent', if that racket could be called a 'talent'. 

Everybody's going  
To the party  
Have a real good time  
Dancing in the desert  
blowing up good sunshine 

“Grr...” He banged on the door, frowning. “Hey! You mind turning it down in there? I can't think with all that scrap blasting through the ship!” 

Nell looked at Jazz from his berth, grinning. “I know, lets ignore him. Maybe he'll go away.” 

“I've tried, it doesn't work.” He said, turning up the music. He had that devious grin going on, and he reached his hand down to her. “You dance?” 

Nell shook her head, standing up. “Not unless this counts as dancing.” She jumped up and down, bouncing. “And I have zero rhythm. No joke. I land when they're up, and I'm up when they land. I'm that bad.” She scratched the back of her head, smiling. Jazz's smile only widened. 

“I'll teach ya some, if ya wanna learn.” He said, picking her up and setting her on the floor. 

“I'm hopeless, Jazz. But if you think you can teach me, lets give it a shot.” She shrugged. 

“I'll show you somethin' easy to start, k? This one's called 'The Twist.' Alright, now, weight on your heel, turn your feet left, and go to your toes.” He did the motion for her. “Do it three times one way, then ya go three the other way.” He said. Nell tried it, and blinked. 

“I look silly, don't I?” She said, smiling lopsidedly at the white bot. 

“Nah, just gotta put ya hips into it. See? One-two one-two, left-right left-right, here-there here-there. C'mon, show me whatcha got, little lady!” He grinned down at her, putting it all together. 

“Okay... uh...” She did the motions, though not nearly as well as Jazz. “I look ridiculous!” 

“Don't worry 'bout it! Dance like no one's watching'!” he said with a laugh. 

What in sparks was going on in there? “Jazz! I order you to open this slagging door!” He said, pounding a fist on it. Nothing happened. “Oh, that does it.” He punched in what he thought was the white bots access code, and on the fourth try, the door opened to show... Jazz dancing with that organic?! “What in the pit?” 

Nell turned. “GAH! What the hell are you doing here?” 

Sentinel growled. “I should be asking you that, meat-bag.” 

“Ease off, man.” Jazz said, trying to keep things safe for the woman by his foot. 

“Jazz, what are you doing with that thing? You could contaminate the entire ship!” 

Thing? Is that what he saw? This guy really was a prick. “Not this again- what did I do to piss you off anyway?” Nell asked, running her hands through her hair. What was with this guy? Did he hate everything Earthen? She wouldn't be surprised if he did. Jazz picked her up, holding his free hand up. 

“Lets start with living,” Sentinel sneered. 

“Cool it SP, she ain't doing any harm.” Jazz said, curling his fingers to form a protective cage. Sentinel wouldn't hassle Nell while Jazz was holding her, but he wasn't about to take chances. 

“Pfft! Wait until it urinates on you,” he said, grumbling. 

Nell blinked and looked at Jazz. “I already went. Before I even got here.” She looked back at Sentinel. “What in the hell are you talking about?” This bot confused the hell out of her. 

“Ew, it's talking again. Jazz, put that thing down before it spits acid or something.” 

“I'm a she, you pompous, brain-dead, tin-can.” she growled loudly, pushing herself to her knees. He was pushing it now. 

“What is going on here?” There was a very loud, very commanding voice. From the right came a tall, blue and white bot with a fancy sledge-hammer who looked unhappy. He looked at Nell with dark optics. He looked older than the two bots. He sounded older, too. He must have been the Magnus person Prowl had mentioned before. “Jazz, who is this?” He leaned the hammer toward Nell, who sat back down. Big bot with an unhappy face and a scary-ass hammer. This didn't look good. 

“This is Nell, sir. She's a human friend,” the white bot said, showing the woman to him. Nell waved to the new bot, feeling shy all of a sudden. 

“Hello, sir.” Did she just 'sir' him? 

“Hello, human.” He said, giving this low rumble and turning to Sentinel. Nellie didn't understand what the sound meant. It might have been a growl, but she doubted it. This bot seemed too mature to growl. “Sentinel Prime, I want you to remain on ship until the next Earth day cycle begins. Understood?” 

Sentinel's optics widened a bit, before he saluted. “Sir, yes, sir.” The bot turned around and left, giving Nell a glare as he went. She frowned at him. 

“Jazz, give me the human. I would like to speak with her.” He held his hammer-free hand out and let Nell climb into his palm. “I need to ask you a few questions, then you can leave. Understand?” 

“Yes, sir.” He nodded, and walked for a few minutes past some monitor screens, a commanders chair, some sort of ramp thing, and they were in a large office. Nell was set down on the large desk. Ultra Magnus sat down, pulling out a strange looking pad thing. He picked up a thin stick, glowing hot green at the end. 

“Now then, explain to me what happened.” He asked. 

“From what point?” She asked. A lot had happened today. 

“From the time Jetstorm and Jetfire had you,” he said blankly, writing on the strange pad. She could see through it, like it were a pane of blue glass, but the language was way beyond anything she could read. It was very complex, and Magnus was writing incredibly fast. If that was chicken scratch, then she could only imagine what print looked like.

“Okay.” And so, Nellie explained to Ultra Magnus what had happened. It took about four minutes, and Nellie was never happier that she was done with something. Magnus seemed to be unhappy. “That all you need, sir?” 

“...strange behavior...” He said, scribbling on the pad for the hundredth time. 

“Do you mean me or Sentinel, sir?” Nell asked. 

“You happen to be the first human to use 'sir' when talking with me.” 

“Is that a bad thing? If I'm not supposed to call you sir, I'll stop,” she said holding up her hands. 

“It isn't an issue. Only a simple statement.” He said. The human on his desk fidgeted. She seemed to be looking for something that wasn't in the room. Peculiar... Nell spoke up. 

“You remind me of my father, to be honest. I'd 'sir' him all the time.” She said quietly, looking at him sheepishly. 

“Hmm, and is that anything like reminding you of you're mother?” He asked, seeming to raise an eyebrow. He didn't really have many expressions. She guessed he had to be hard to read with his job. 

“No sir. My dad was a great guy. He was a Marine.” She said, smiling. 

“I see.” He'd look that up later when he'd look up what 'the twist' was supposed to be... 

“...can I be honest with you?” 

“I'd prefer it.” He said blankly. 

“I don't like Sentinel. He's a foghorn with legs, I swear...” To her surprise, Magnus smiled. It was hardly there, but it happened. 

“He can be a handful at times. I will make sure to keep a closer eye on him.” He said, setting her down. 

“Thank you, sir. Sorry to bother you.” Ultra Magnus nodded at her retreat, hoping she'd find her way off ship without incident. If Sentinel were smart, he'd leave her be. But Ultra Magnus knew better. 

“Jetfire and Jetstorm.” 

“Sir?” 

“I want the two of you to escort the human 'Nell' off ship. Understood?” 

“Yes sir!” They said in unison. Well, they sure sounded happy. 

X 

Nell had made it safely off ship with the 'help' of the Jet Twins. If help was asking questions every two seconds, they sure were giving her a lot of it. “Guys, seriously, I'm tired.” She was also getting a headache. 

“But we just got you back, short one!” Jetstorm said. 

“Ya! We miss you and your stringy head!” Jetfire said, touching her head. 

“It's called hair, you two. And my name is Nellie,” she said, patting his hand.

“We prefer 'short one', short one,” Jetstorm said with a smile. Nell blinked. 

“...why do you like Sentinel?” she asked. Nothing like a subject change to upset the balance. 

“Sentinel Prime is assigned commander,” they said together. Wow, creepy... 

“So, what, you have to like him or something?” 

The two jets nodded. 

Nell sighed. “Thought it was something like that...” 

“Hey Nell! There you are!” Sari called from the rec-room, poking her head out the doorway, a wide grin on her face. “I wanted to play twister! Wanna join? I can't do it with anyone else, cuz... well, I'll get crushed! So...” She smiled at her friend. She looked like she needed a break from the Jet Twins anyway. 

“Ooh! Ooh! We can watch twisting, yes?” Jetfire asked excitedly. Jetstorm looked about as excited. 

Nell smacked her forehead, grinning. “Sure, why not? Lets go kids... boys...bots...uh...” She walked forward, the twin jets following her, giggling. Those marsh mellows were kicking in again! 

X 

The ninja bot sat on a low branch, hands behind his helm, swinging one leg. “How did it go...orange sky... sister standing by... long road...” Prowl thought of the song. He liked the song. He had actually never tried singing before Nell had brought it up, and he was open to new things. Singing seemed like something to try out at least once. He couldn't remember the words very well. He'd look them up later. Nell had said that he had a nice voice... well, not that he had a nice voice, but that his singing was nice... he still hadn't figured out why she was blushing though... 

From another room he heard someone yelling. He sat up, looking at the screen. “I don't bend that way, Bumbles! Humans can't do that!” That was Nell. Prowl decided to investigate, coming down from the tree. He went into the rec-room to find Sari and Nell engaged in a game of twister. Nell seemed to be having a hard time with it though... that pose couldn't be comfortable. Her left arm was way out, right bent under her stomach, left leg crossed over right, feet about a yard apart. 

Very uncomfortable. Very unnatural. Very weird to look at. Nell didn't look too happy with her pose. He couldn't say he was either. The human might pop or pull something. He stayed out of sight for now, choosing a dark corner. He liked corners, especially dark ones. No one noticed him enter.

“Hey, I don't control the colors!” He said. He pressed the button, and yelled. “Right hand on green!” 

“Got it!” Sari said. Nell shook. 

“Oh crap... which way is green?!” She yelled. 

“To the left!” Bumblebee said, smiling. 

Nell looked around, trying to see the yellow menace causing her to contort. “Who's left? Yours or hers?!” 

Sari said, giggling. “Yours!” 

Nell blinked. “Uh... okay! I think I got it!” 

“Go short one!” Jetstorm called with a grin. Jetfire was clapping and grinning next to his brother. 

“You two aren't helping!” She shouted at the two, hand hovering to find the green. She was a tired human, and there was only a seconds time before her body fell down with an 'eep!' 

But when her body didn't hit the floor, she blinked. There was something poking her stomach, and she turned to see a very familiar ninja. “Hi there...” Nell said awkwardly. This was funny looking. Prowl had one leg stretched out to the side, the other bent under his chest, one arm out to the side, and the other one on her stomach. Physics had nothing on this guy.

“Hello, Nell.” he said, just like he'd say it when he came to her home, not phased by this odd game.

“Hey! No outside interference, ninja-bot!” Bumblebee yelled from the couch. Prowl didn't pay him any mind. He had Nell's stomach on his fingertips, carefully holding her aloft until she started to giggle. 

“P- ah-aha- put me do-wn! Gahahah! Lemme go-ohohAHAHA!” Prowl, somewhat confused, let Nell drop the short distance to the ground. The game beeped and flashed, and Nell held her stomach, giggling like a nut. Prowl remained confused. 

“Did I do something funny?” He asked, looking down at the fallen female. Sari straightened out, standing up, and with a wild grin, helped Nell to her feet. 

“Short one has sensitive torso parts! Do it again, dark bot! She makes squeaky noises!” Jetstorm called, Jetfire covering his own mouth to hide his wild laughter. 

“Please don't. I'm, heh, I'm very ticklish.” Nell smiled at Prowl, tilting her head slightly. “Dark bot?” She asked. 

Prowl's visor shifted. “Well, I am dark,” he said, standing. Sari wrapped her arms around Nell's neck from behind.

“Oh, Nell! I forgot to tell you. Tonight is official movie night here at the base.”

Nell blinked. “Okay?”

Sari let go of her, smiling. “And, because you're a guest, you can pick from the library.” She tugged Nell's hand, leading her away from Prowl.

“Does she ever take a break?” Nell asked under her breath. Prowl, hearing her, could only shrug.

x 

The film started with a party scene, the camera switching back and forth between people. Bumblebee sighed. “Boring...” 

“Shh! It just started.” Sari hissed. She was sitting on Optimus' leg, Optimus on the 'couch' next to Prowl. Nell sat between the two. The twins sat on crates behind them, Bulkhead on his built in chair, Bumblebee on the couch arm, Ratchet on a crate, and Jazz on the floor.

“You okay with the floor, Jazz? I can move if you want.” Nell asked the white bot. He turned his head to her, smiling. Did he ever not smile?

“Nah, I'm good where I am, little lady.”

“Lady?” Jetstorm asked.

“Little?” Jetfire asked soon after.

“Shh!” Someone said.

The lights flickered on the screen, and all the humans ran to the roof. Explosions occurred, and there was a building crumbling to the ground. Nell jumped a bit. There was a huge creature that roared, and she jumped again. Then, the head of a huge statue came crashing down into the streets. The cameraman yelled and ran. Nell jumped yet again. Prowl looked down at her.

“Something wrong?” Prowl asked quietly. Nell shook her head, only to jump a moment later when a building collapsed. 

“I'm, uh, I don't like loud noises... that's all, don't mind me.” She said, scooting away from his leg. She bumped Optimus, who looked down at her. “Eh...sorry...” She settled for pushing herself as far from the TV. as she could. Her back was against the concrete, and she pulled her hands into her lap. Nell hated explosions, and thunder. She didn't know why, she just always did. 

A minute went by. 

“Hold the camera still! We wanna see the monster!” Bumblebee yelled from the couch. The humans were running around the burning city, one of them yelling about someone named Beth. 

“Bumblebee, that's the idea. It's supposed to be shaky. Makes it look more realistic.” Bulkhead said from his seat on his door wings. 

A few minutes passed. 

“What kinda glitch-head would run into an unstable building?” Ratchet asked.

Bumblebee's hand went up. 

Another minute went by. 

“No! Don't jump!” Sari yelled at the screen. The people jumped, landed, and she settled down. More running from the people. 

A minute later, there was a tunnel, and these ugly spider-poodle beasts. Optimus blinked, his mouth shrinking a bit. He brought the hand closest to Sari toward himself, pulling her back a bit. She looked up at him, and whispered softly, “You okay, Big guy?” He looked away like nothing happened. Sari sighed, and draped her left arm over his hand. She had to smile when he twitched. One of the women was bitten on the leg, and was now screaming. 

“Is creepy crab-dog going to eat screaming lady?” Jetfire asked, optics wide. 

“I am thinking it wanted to have play thing,” Jetstorm said. 

Several minutes passed, and the woman who was bitten started to wobble. “Oh no, she's leaking red stuff. That's bad, right?” Bumblebee asked no one in particular. A second later, “Holy Primus! Marlene exploded!” Bumblebee shrieked, now hiding behind Bulkhead. Bulkhead blinked.

“How did she explode? Was it because of the spider-poodles?”

“Probably.” Prowl said. He looked down at the human to his left. Nell hadn't said anything since the statue's head came crashing down to the street. She may not have had anything to say. He left her alone.

Men in military uniforms yelled about the camera. The people got into a helicopter, and soon enough, it came crashing down. “Typical.” Ratchet mumbled.

Some explosions went off, and a loud roar was heard. The people ran yet again.

“Hi Clover!” Sari said when the beast came on screen. It sniffed the camera, reached down, and proceeded to eat the cameraman. “Aw, he was hungry.” She said.

“Must have a big appetite.” Optimus mumbled.

More time passed, alarms blared, and the camera shook like crazy.

“And now they're under a bridge for the millionth time.” Bulkhead muttered. 

The two humans spoke to the camera. There was a loud boom and a bright flash, and there were the two humans, talking on a Ferris Wheel. The film ended.

“That... sucked.” Bumblebee said. “Way to go, Nellie. Picked out a scrap movie.” He said. Nell said nothing. “Hey! You hear me? I said-”

“Shh!” Sari said, leaning across Optimus' legs to look at her friend. “...She fell asleep.”

The twins leaned over the couch, looking at Nell.

“Short one is recharging?” Jetfire asked his twin.

“She is.” Jetstorm said, grinning. He reached down, and Sari waved her arms at the two.

“Shh! No, no! Don't tickle her when she's sleeping! I did that one time, and she kicked me off the bed!” She said in a harsh whisper. The two frowned.

“C'mon guys, back to the ship.” Jazz said, standing up.

“Party pooper,” they said before leaving the room. Sentinel was gonna have their afts on a pike if he found them off ship at this hour.

“Where is Nellie going to sleep, Sari?” Optimus asked quietly.

Sari thought about it, then she looked at Prowl. “Why not take her in your room?”

“What?” The ninja bot said. Sari shrugged.

“Well, why not? She doesn't snore, and here, look.” Sari crawled over Optimus' legs, and put her hand on Nell's shoulder. “Hey, Nellie.” She said, giving her a light shake. “Nell.” She said in her normal tone. Nell did nothing. Sari grabbed Nell by the arm, picked it up, and dropped it with a thud. Nell groaned, but didn't do anything else. “See? She's a heavy sleeper! You can drag her by the legs, and she won't budge!”

Prowl frowned. “Where would I put her?”

“The floor, duh.”

Prowl didn't move. He would never let Nell sleep on the floor. It was awful on a humans back. It was also pretty rude.

“Oh! I know. We can put her on a cot. We have one of those that we never use.” And the girl was off of Optimus, going for the cot. 

“Sari, why not just keep her with you?” Prowl asked. He wasn't trying to get rid of Nell, but he wasn't used to waking up and finding someone in his room. “Waking up in a strange place may not be a good idea.”

“Not true! One time I recharged on the couch. I woke up on the roof, and it was the best recharge I'd had in a long time!” Bumblebee chimed in. Nell lifted a hand up, swatting at the yellow bots voice groggily, and fell over on Prowl's leg. She grunted, and threw an arm over the leg. Prowl's visor shifted. “Cool, you're a pillow! She can sleep on you.” Bumblebee leaned toward the doorway as Sari came in, pushing a cot ahead of her. “No need for the cot, Sari. Nellie's just gonna use Prowl for-”

“She'll be using the cot, thank you.” He said, annoyance slowly going on the rise. With skilled hands and careful hold, Prowl lifted Nell off his leg and into his arms. She grunted, and burrowed into him. Or, at least she tried. The ninja bots visor widened a bit. He looked down at Sari, motioning to his room with his head. “Sari, could you set up the cot for me? I don't want to wake her up.”

“Even if you did wake her up, she'd just grunt and go back to sleep. She is a really heavy sleeper.” She said, rolling the cot down the hall. Prowl followed. “G'night guys.” She called behind her. There was a series of mumbles and calls of good night. The screen went up, and Sari set up the cot. Prowl made a coughing noise, and Sari turned to him. “Yeah Prowl?”

“Um... don't extend the legs. I'm not sure what she'll do when she's recharging.” It was a two foot drop from the cot to the floor. That would go badly if she rolled over and fell off.

“Good idea.” Sari said, collapsing the legs and pulling back the sheet. Prowl set Nell down. She made a grunting noise before burrowing into the mat. She grunted again. Prowl's visor shifted, and Sari shrugged. “She does that. She's looking for a warm spot, I think.” Sari yawned and turned, leaving. “G'night.” Prowl waved, and climbed up the tree.

He looked down at Nell from the branch, leaning back against the tree.“Sleep well.” He said quietly. Prowl offlined his optics, letting himself drift into recharge.


	6. Mornings

_Chapter Six: Mornings_

 

_Dawn: When men of reason go to bed. ~Ambrose Bierce_

 

**X**

 

“ _Subject Nine is recovering well. It's only been nine days, but she has had two of the six wires removed with limited complications. She has beaten the old record of how long a human has survived up here. Sorry Four.”_

 

Starscream hummed with the music, typing notes on a large monitor. He looked over his shoulder, peeking at the human female with mild concern. She had her side to him, arms crossed over her stomach, probably trying to block out the music. Starscream had a love for the human art form known as 'Opera.' Sarah, known as Nine in his notes, despised Opera quite vocally. Well, up until recently. She had stopped talking to him a few days ago.

 

“ _However, her behavior is somewhat alarming. Nine has grown quiet, and prefers to keep her back toward me. She has some sort of issue with her face that I can't understand. She cringes at my touch, but not from fear of my claws. There is something else that I don't understand, even though I've spent hours trying to figure it out. I have looked into the typical human idea for what a female her age should 'look' like, and I find it highly unrealistic.”_

 

The magenta seeker frowned, looking at the images of what could happen to a human if the demands for 'perfection' were met. It sickened him. The ideal female was impossible to create, yet humans strain to reach it. Humans were, at times, more twisted than he was. He raised an eyebrow

 

“ _Visible rib cage, thin waist line, long and thin legs, all of which can be achieved at a price. Health, both mental and physical, are given up to achieve 'perfection.' Anorexia, Bulimia, depression, self-harm, just to name a bit. But I have reason to believe Sarah's-”_

 

He paused, and erased her name. He would _not_ grow attached to this one like he had foolishly done with the others.

 

“ _ **Nine's** problems stem from a far deeper issue. Whether her mental condition is self brought or not, she isn't healthy because of it.” _

 

He paused, claws hovering over the keys in thought. He had done something like that to himself, he knew. He had upgraded himself during those three years on the moon. He had made himself more powerful, more menacing, but it had somewhat hindered his ability to fly. He was still an amazing seeker, he had just been slowed down a bit. It was made up for by his upgraded null-rays and throat-gun. He was also well aware that his sanity wasn't in mint condition. That had something to do with it. He had made himself a threat to any who stood in his path... but who stood in it anymore? Blinking, he continued.

 

“ _Nine was on the streets when I took her here. She is underweight, but I am working on that. I plan to work her onto a liquid diet soon. She hasn't complained or tried to pull anything out for a few days, about the same time she stopped talking. I think I was a little too rough with her. But, eventually, everyone gets sick of their test subject dying on them.”_

 

“At least Nine isn't trying to kill herself. I wonder how Four would have done had she...” He stopped his mumbling. He had liked Four, and she had pulled out her face rings on day seven. It was a gruesome, if not a saddening, discovery to make. Starscream yawned, leaning back, stretching his arms over his helm. He stood up, looking at Sarah. She was on her side, dull blond hair over her face. Her tank was next to his berth, so that he could always keep an optic on her. The last time he had left a subject alone for too long they blew their face open. He didn't want to relive that. “Goodnight.” He mumbled, laying down on one side. A habit he had developed from his previous test subjects was to tell them good night, even though he didn't recharge everyday. When he did, it was typically at three in the morning on a Wednesday or Saturday, what ever those were...

 

Sarah looked at him past her stringy hair. She hadn't showered in forever, but she was used to it. She didn't feel comfortable bathing in front of... well, anyone. “What time is it anyway?” She croaked, voice cracked from lack of use. Starscream sat up, looking at her with a look of... she wanted to say shock, but that wasn't quite it. He looked... kind of happy in this creepy sort of way.

 

“...say that again?” He asked carefully, sitting up, leaning on an elbow.

 

She frowned. “What time is it?” His grin went from creepy to crazy in half a second.

 

“Why, it's three AM., Sarah.” He smirked. “I guess I should be saying good _morning_ then, hmm?”

 

“Just asking for the time...don't start a conversation...” She was getting tired of him. He was _always_ like this. He always got this way when she'd do anything in response to him. So she figured that not responding was a good idea. Not so, the winged bastard just kept on talking, whether she replied or not.

 

“And I gave you an answer. Now _where_ is my thank you?” He asked dully, propping his head up on his hand. Sarah did nothing. He rolled onto his stomach, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. “I'm not going to look away until I get what I want.” He ended the sentence in that sing-song way again, narrowing his optics. He did that all the time, too. He lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”

 

Damn, he was a real demon in the right light, and a total bastard in any light. She grumbled. “...thank you... Lord Starscream.” Sarah said it through clenched teeth, but Starscream could care less. He wasn't even expecting her to talk to him, let alone use his self proclaimed title. He grinned at the human again, using one hand to tap on her tank as some way of petting her without touching her. She really hated that. She'd get used to it, though. She would have to.

 

“Good, Sarah. I _knew_ you would learn.” She sighed loudly and flipped on her side, back to him. But still, the seeker grinned, rolling onto his back, hands behind his helm. He was in recharge a moment later, still smiling.

 

**X**

 

Prowl onlined his optics, looking down from the tree limb. There was the cot, and there was Nell, curled up and breathing slowly. He climbed down, looking down at her. She looked peaceful, and a bit cold. Her arm was exposed, so that might be why. He looked up through the hole in the roof. The sun was still coming over the city buildings, making everything a bright fire orange. The leaves on his tree looked like they were on fire. It made his room look warm, a deep rust almost. He decided to try and wake up the human.

 

Prowl got to one knee, supporting his slender frame with one hand. “Nell.” He said quietly. Nell made no movement. “Nellie... can you hear me?” He said, keeping his voice low. She still didn't move. He went in front of her, so he could see her face. “Nell?” This time, she rolled away from his voice, exposing her back and leg. Her hand felt around for the blanket, and she grunted when she couldn't find it. The dark bot smiled slightly. He carefully grabbed the sheet, pulling it up to her shoulder. Nell burrowed and grunted, going back to sleep. “I'll try again later.” He said, standing up. It was still early.

 

“I wouldn't.” Said a voice from the doorway. It was Bumblebee, arms crossed and grinning wide. “She gets really cranky if she's up after seven. Sari's made coffee. She said Nell needs coffee to function or something like that.” He said, walking over to the sleeping human. “Hello Nell! Are you ready to get up?” Bumblebee's voice was too loud for the female, and she swatted at him, frowning in her sleep.

 

Prowl's visor narrowed at the annoying young bot. “It's six-forty-nine, Bumblebee. You can get her up in ten minutes.” He said sternly. Bumblebee's grin widened.

 

“Sorry, ninja bot. But I can't let you bring the wrath of a cranky human on us!” Prowl grumbled at the yellow bot. Bumblebee leaned forward toward Nell, and counted down. “This should work... Three, two, one!” The bot then blasted a horse sound byte, a loud braying that made Prowl pull back. Nell's eyes shot open. “WAKE UP CALL!” The young bot yelled, laughing.

 

“Gah!” Nell yelped, rolled, and fell the short distance to the ground. Prowl winced slightly, glaring at Bumblebee. “Mer... waffles... blarney...” She mumbled before she sat up. Her hair was a mess, but she looked rested enough. “Who did that?”

 

“That would be me!” The yellow bot crowed happily. “See Prowl? Told ya it would get her up.” Bumblebee said, smiling. Prowl frowned, hands on hips.

 

“Bumbles? Why are you on my dresser?” Nell mumbled.

 

“What?” He asked. What was she talking about?

 

“What about what?” She mumbled again, curling up in a ball. “Go away.” Bumblebee snickered. Prowl sighed. The woman lifted her head, looking sleepily at the dark bot. “What time is it? I need to feed the horses,” Nell muttered. She sat up, looked around again, and blinked. “Wait... where am I?”

 

Prowl smiled. “You're in my room, Nell.” The woman blinked again.

 

“Oh yeah...” She smiled, but then cocked her head. “Why?”

 

“It was suggested by Sari. You fell asleep during the movie.”

 

“Which was awful!” Bumblebee's voice popped up again. He stepped around the black bot, grinning. “And, because you picked out a bad movie...” Bumblebee's hands went after Nell, one pulling up the cot, the other shoving her onto it. “I'm giving you a one-way ride to the pit! Hang on, Nellie! I'm bad at turns!” The yellow bot shoved the cot hard, Nell falling back onto the pad with her legs in the air.

 

“Whee!” The woman called out in a high voice, grabbing the cot frame for all her worth. Prowl followed close behind, about ready to pounce on the yellow bot for doing something so reckless with the female. Bumblebee was telling the truth when he said he was bad at turns. He came far too close to knocking the cot into a corner.

 

“Bumblebee, you let her off that thing! If it tips she-” Prowl rounded the corner to see Nell climbing off the cot, Bumblebee pushing it down and under the table. “-might get hurt...” Prowl mumbled the last part, and, seeing that Nell was okay, climbed up the crane. He liked heights as much as the dark. The ninja bot could see everything from there, and the sounds made below were amplified. The jet twins were about to enter, on his direct left. “...three, two, one...” He knew those accents anywhere. The two entered without skipping a beat. “...and here they are.” He muttered. The dark bot sat comfortably on the crane, simply watching. Watching was fun.

 

“Short one! You are awake!” Jetstorm said. Nell looked over at the two, and blinked. She had to smile.

 

“Hey guys.” The woman said, looking at Sari. The red haired teen smiled, setting down a purple mug filled with the hot, black, liquid. “Thanks Sari.” Sari smiled and walked back to the coffee pot, pouring a glass half full before filling it the rest of the way with milk. The red haired teen didn't know how anyone could drink coffee straight up black. It tasted awful to her, but Nell liked it that way.

 

The two went closer to the pale haired female. The two grinned, and Jetstorm reached down, poking the woman in the ribs. She turned to him, smiling politely. “Not right now, okay?” Nell said, sipping her coffee, tapping her short nails on the mug. “I have a hot drink, see?” Hooray for coffee.

 

“Aw, but we missed you, especially your hair.” Jetfire said. He still thought it would look good if it were bright green. He reached down, poking Nell's temple.

 

Nell sighed, and pushed the hand away. “No. Not right now.” The woman said flatly. She took another sip of her coffee. The twins looked at each other, confused. What was wrong with their new friend?

 

“Why is short one so mean today?” Jetfire asked, pouting.

 

Jetstorm put his hand on his chin in thought, then snapped his fingers, smiling. “I know, brother! She is having her comma!”

 

“PPFFFUTH!” Nell chocked, spraying coffee on the table. Sari looked down at her, the woman's face hidden behind her hair. “Sari?” She mumbled.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“...can, uh... can you get me a towel?” She mumbled, embarrassed. “Oh crap... it went in my nose... I can't breath right anymore... ow... ow ow ow...” The woman grumbled.

 

“Sure thing, Nell.” Sari went out of the room. Prowl swung down from the crane, landing on the floor, looking at Nell with worry.

 

He looked at the twins, frowning. “What happened?”

 

“Short one is having a comma.” Jetstorm said, mouth small, pointing down at the female.

 

Nell glared at the blue twin. “It's called a period and no, I'm not on one!” The short human growled.

 

The twins backed up. Jetfire blinked at the human. “Run, dark bot! Before the tentacles get you!” With that, the twins ran. Sari walked in, and handed Nell a pink towel.

 

“Thank you.” Nell wiped the table, then buried her face in the fluffy towel and blew her nose. “Ow.” She mumbled. “Ugh... I'm gonna smell coffee for a month, I'm sure.” The woman pulled her face out of the fluffy pinkness, folding it in half and setting it on the table. “I think I'll have the rest of my coffee outside.” The woman said, then she stood up, and left the room.

 

“Nell?” Prowl said, but the woman didn't turn. The ninja bot cocked his head. He followed a few feet behind, but still, she didn't turn around. She went out the front entrance. “Is something wrong, Nell?” Prowl asked, leaning out the front entrance to look at the woman on the ground. She took a sip of her coffee, thought a moment, and spoke.

 

“Other than me smelling coffee for the next month? Nope, I'm good.”

 

He walked to her side, balancing on his feet, knees bent, back against the wall, hands between his thighs. He had this crooked mouth look going on. That face for Optimus meant he wasn't buying it. It meant the same thing for all the bots, but she couldn't see Prowl's optics. Wait, maybe the visor was his optics. Nell sighed, giving the dark bot her own lopsided frown. “Prowl, don't give me that look.” He didn't move. She blew the sparse bangs out of her face. “Alright... why do you think somethings wrong?”

 

Prowl looked at her carefully. “You seem upset, that's all. It looks to me that the Jet Twins upset you. I just want to know if they did.” He was being quiet for a reason. Not everyone was up at this hour. He still wanted to know what Bumblebee was doing up.

 

The woman chuckled, an odd sound for her. “Nah, not upset me as much as annoy the hell out of me. I'm used to it, though, what with all the colts I've dealt with...” She took a sip of coffee. “The twins... they remind me of my brother.” She said it quietly at the end.

 

Prowl's visor widened a bit. “You... have a brother, Nell?” Somehow, he wasn't too shocked.  


“Yeah... somewhere.” She said softly. She didn't know where her brother was. She just hoped he had gotten away from their mother. The woman was crazy. Nell was just thankful to have gotten out of there. She hoped her brother had done the same.

 

Prowl barely set his fingertips on her shoulder. She blinked at the contact, looking at him. His look held sympathy and curiosity. Nell didn't feel like dealing with either, at least not this early.“Don't worry about it, Prowl.” Her left hand patted his fingers, somewhat surprised by the contact. Did he like touching her or something? He sure didn't act like the touching type... “Coffee's gone! I'm gonna ask Sari for a change of pants...” She stood, showing her coffee splattered self. Nell walked into the base, leaving Prowl outside. He frowned, but he let her go.

 

**X**

 

“My legs are cold.” Nell said from her place on the dryer. She was sitting on a corner, giving a lopsided frown. She did that a lot. “No lie. They be cold.” Prowl was standing near by, but he had his back turned on the two. Nell was in her underwear, something he didn't really want, or was allowed, to see.

 

“Are you decent?” He asked politely.

 

“Define decent.” She said. She knew her hair was a total mess. Was that decent?

 

“Don't worry, Nellie. If you'd move your butt for just one second...” Nell hopped off the dryer, hands on hips, and was handed a pair of green sweatpants from a basket. “Here ya go! Nice and clean.” Nell grinned.

 

“Cool, I have green pants. I have pants! Look at my pants!” Nell said, grinning.

 

“Nellie, take it easy.” Sari said, smiling.

 

“Sorry.” She said, pulling the pants up. The woman turned sheepishly to Prowl, only to find him turning back. This is what happened when she said to look. She blinked at him. He had his arms crossed. She had to wonder if robots could blush. If they did, he'd be the one that didn't. She looked to her left, seeing the twins and Jazz. “Uh... what was that? You need me over there? Okay! I'm...uh...” Nell took off in the direction of the twins, who talked to her for a minute before arguing with each other. Then, the two combined, Nell squeaked, and the twins, now Safeguard, left the room with the female. Jazz was now laughing.

 

“She's not coming back any time soon, is she?” Sari asked. Prowl frowned.

 

“I don't think so.” Prowl said. He turned to his friend, and spoke carefully. “Sari... I saw something on Nell.” Prowl said quietly. “I'm not sure what it was, but it got my attention. It looked like some sort of scar.” Nell wasn't in the room, but he didn't want anyone to think he was prying into her life. Sari blinked at him, mouth a flat line.

 

“...right hip?” She said carefully. He nodded. The red haired teen looked around for anyone near by, probably Nell. She leaned close to his face, and spoke in a fast whisper. “If you see them again, don't stare, okay? Those are her scars, not mine, so I can't talk about them. If you want to know, you'll have to ask her. But honestly, she'll yell at you for peeping if you do.” She seemed a bit nervous, but it was gone a moment later.

 

“I understand, Sari.” He stood up. The dryer buzzed. The teen nodded, and turned to the doorway.

 

“Hey Nell! Your pants are ready!” Sari yelled. Prowl winced slightly. He had sensitive audios. “Oops. Sorry Prowl.” She said, smiling sheepishly at the ninja bot.

 

Nell came in, smiling. “I can have my pants?”

 

“Yep! Here you go!” Prowl turned around again, waiting for Nell to pull her pants up.

 

“Okay, they're on.”

 

Prowl turned a bit. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yes.” Prowl turned to see Nell grinning at Sari. “Wow... warm pants straight from the dryer...” Nell smiled serenely, rubbing her legs together. “I'm just one big warm spot.”  


“Oh really?” Sari said before hugging her friend. She grinned at her, pulling back. “Yep! You're warm all right.” Nell smiled.

 

“Oh! Uh, I spoke with Optimus a while ago. He got me away from Safeguard, and we talked.”

 

“Yeah? What about?” Sari asked, cocking her head.

 

“Promise not to tackle me, okay?” Nell asked quietly

 

“Okay.”

 

“I...made a deal with him. I come out every other weekend to vis-oof!” And once again, Nell was on her back. “This is getting old, Sari. You say you won't tackle me and then you tackle me.” She tried to sound angry, but she just couldn't help smiling.

 

“This is gonna be great!”

 

“Yeah, but, Sari? Try not breaking my back, okay? I can only handle so much.” Nell said, blinking. Sari giggled, and helped her friend up.

 

Prowl smiled at the two. “I guess I won't be sneaking around to visit you now, hmm?”

 

Nell grinned. “You can visit at two in the morning for all I care. You're fun, Prowl.” The woman said before Jazz called her and Sari over to talk. As the three went outside, Prowl was glad Nell had been called away. He wouldn't know how to explain the faint blush he had from her comment. Him? Fun? She must be mistaken.

 

**X**

 

The tan and purple triple-changer circled overhead, zooming in on the human female talking to the Autobot.

 

_'Lord Megatron, I have located ze human female. Name, Helena Calder Simon, AKA Nell Simon. Should I intercept ze female?'_

 

_'Not yet, Blitzwing. First we must see this humans attachment to the Autobots. See if she is worthy as a hostage. Return to base.'_

 

 _'Yes, Lord Megatron.'_ The triple changer turned sharply to his left, sailing toward the mountains hiding the Earthen Decepticon base. The Decepticon leader had been on Earth for three years, rebuilding what remained of his army. Despite most of the Decepticons being scattered across the galaxy or dead, Megatron was not giving up that easily.

 

The Decepticon leader never did.

 


	7. Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to roast marshmallows over this trash fire, guys.

Chapter 7: Music

  


_Those who wish to sing always find a song. ~ Proverb_

  


**X**

  


"Hmm... seems in order..." The large bot looming above her said quietly, dropping Sarah's shirt. Her tubes were almost completely out, save for the feeding tube. And the burns he had given her when she had bled had healed to a mild, pale scar the size of a quarter. "No blood, no pain, no issues." He said, smiling. "Alright, as long as you're set, I'll be going now." Starscream said. Sarah blinked.

  


"You're leaving?" She was a little nervous, and just a bit of it peeked through her 'I'm pissed at everything' look. He wasn't going to leave her here, right? The jet made a rumbling noise in his chest, smiling. Wow, he could chuckle. Strange noise to hear coming from that... crazy robot jet thing. Sarah had heard him hum before, but only to that stupid Opera he was obsessed with. Lady Moth, or something like that. She didn't care, it was annoying. "Where will you be?"

  


"Just Earth. I can make excellent time if I leave at the right moment." He said, checking the box the tubes were hooked up to. Starscream looked at her, smirking. "It isn't for a few minutes, though. If I leave too early or too late, you could be stuck here for days..." He hadn't meant to sound so happy about it. The seeker tended to do that. It wasn't habit, it was him, and he was a little crazy. He blinked. "But luckily, I know what I'm doing." He then hummed with the aria.

  


"Can you... _please_... turn the opera down? You won't even be here to hear it and..." Sarah's voice ended in a groan and growl. Starscream smiled darkly. She was trying to be nice, and it just made her mad. He had learned that the human was, to put it lightly, bitter. And, for her age and species, she was too bitter.

  


"Well, since you asked me so _nicely_..." He went out of sight, and the music was shut off completely. He popped back in. "See how nice _I_ can be, Sarah? I turned it completely off." He leaned down, grinning down at her in the tank. He blinked, and pulled away, one hand waving in front of his face. "Ugh, Primus, human! You smell like the deepest end of the _pit_!" He shrugged, and walked away. Sarah glared at his wings, they being all she could really see. It was dark on the moon.

  


"I'm... _sorry_...Lord Starscream." The words burned her throat. She wasn't sorry. "I'll... bathe... after you...return from..." She blinked, lifting her head, the hair falling out of her face. "Wait, what the hell are you doing exactly?"

  


He blinked at her, arms crossed. Well, this was a 'treat' for him. Sarah wasn't trying to hide herself from him. "I'm going to Earth. I am in need of... supplies. _You_ are running low on oxygen. Don't panic, you're good for a few more days." He said, seeing her eyes go wide. Huh, they were the color humans called 'hazel'. A nice color for eyes, especially with her dirty blond hair. He blinked. "Now, I plan to move you onto a liquid diet soon enough, because the feeding tube _will_ be out tomorrow."

  


The magenta seeker frowned at the glare she gave him. "Stop trying to burn holes into my wings. There will be enough of your kind doing that when I land." He growled. Starscream smiled, continuing. "I should be back in about six Earth hours... oh, right..." He smirked. "I think I'll get you a clock of some sort." He walked over to her, leaning down for a better look. "I expect you to not smell like the pit when I get back. Until then!" He stood, grinning. He left Sarah alone in the room. With a roar of jets and a high pitched cackle, the seeker headed for Earth.

  


And so, Sarah was left to her own devices. And, left to her own devices, Sarah went to sleep.

  


**X**

  


The seeker had to admit, it was a thrill to crash though the roofs of warehouses. The screaming humans however, not as much. If he wanted to go through the wall, they should know to stay out of his way. He was somewhere called Paris, France. Very pretty city, especially with all those buildings to buzz. He'd have to look up the things he heard later. "Hmm... _diable_ _aile_... I like the way that sounds." There was a slight pain on his shin armor, and he realized there were police firing at him. He frowned, and fired his null rays, knocking cars back and sending humans flying. Oh... that car landed on a human. "Whoops!" He couldn't hold back a cackle.

  


He loaded the tanks of water and oxygen into his cockpit, tossing the vitamins inside. He hoped to get Sarah onto the diet soon. Starscream also hoped he'd get her to use the mouth and nose rings for breathing. He smirked and headed for the skies with a roar. He'd be 'home' in three hours, if he wasn't interrupted. That was when a fellow jet started firing at him. Slag, he _knew_ he shouldn't have fired at those cop cars. "Oh my, looks like I get to have some _more_ fun!" Starscream rolled in the air, transforming. The seeker dove down at the jet, grabbing the cockpit. "Guess who?" He cackled as he tore the jet to shreds, throwing the now shattered cockpit away. The remnants of the jet spun and crashed, catching fire. Starscream grinned, only to have two jets appear on one side, one on the other. Fantastic.

  


"Oh, you wanna play, too? Okay! Hope you like it rough!" He spun, grabbing the single jet by the wing, swinging his legs upwards, throwing it off balance. Starscream ripped the wing tip off, sending it sailing into a tall building. The jet spiraled out of control, the other two firing at him. "Don't fight too hard! You might scratch the paint!" The seeker lunged, digging his claws into the nose of the closest jet. He could use his null rays, but where was the fun in that? Sometimes it was fun to get nasty.

  


He was shot in the back, the force and pain knocking him off his new toy, which fell to earth, going out of sight. It probably landed safely on the ground. Starscream bared his teeth, strong fangs glinting at the attacker. The fourth jet had fired a missile. The seeker could feel the searing pain in his back. He was just glad his wings weren't damaged. "It's about _time_ you weaklings found a way to hurt me!"

  


The seeker aimed his null rays at the jet, sneering at the pilot as he ejected from the cockpit. He would have gladly swooped in and ripped the human apart, but he had to get back to Sarah. He took off for the moon, groaning at the pain. The blast was strong enough that it had cracked his cockpit. A tiny, yet painful hairline crack. "Oh joy." He growled. He hoped his cockpit didn't shatter on the trip back. He was still thankful his wings were intact. A damaged wing was worse than a shattered cockpit. Worse by a long shot.

  


**X**

  


When Sarah awoke, the light had changed. She wasn't sure about what time it was. Her body clock was very thrown off, but she knew it had been a few hours. "Might as well shower." She stood up, stretching her back and legs with a loud groaning sigh. Damn, she was sore. Especially her navel. The tubes were a real pain in the ass to walk around with. A hot shower would do her some good. As soon as she figured out how to work the damn thing...

  


It wasn't very big, but it'd work. A white basin, two inches high and in a three foot squared box. There was a lever and a tube. The tube was covered on the end by a bulb with a bunch of holes. Sarah pulled the lever, and water came out of the end. "...okay..." Sarah stepped forward, only to kick her tubes, bringing pain to her insides. Her arms wrapped around her belly, and she hit her knees. "Son of a bitch!" She yelled. That hurt like hell. After a minute, she staggered to her feet. She reached out, and touched the water. Nice and hot.

  


On her left were a few black cubes that she guessed were soap. She removed her shirt and pants. Sarah didn't have a bra. She never saw a point in wearing one, seeing as she was completely flat. She was also pretty bored. The sound of the water hitting the... wait, what? There wasn't that much gravity on the moon. Argh. She was just going to fluster herself. The sound of the water hitting the tub made her sleepy. She didn't want to go back to sleep. She did the first thing that popped into her head.

  


"You could have been all I wanted. But you weren't honest, now get in the ground." She sang, voice raspy. She wasn't surprised, she hadn't sung in years. Not much to sing about. "You choked off the surest of favors, but if you really loved me, you would have endured my will." Sarah grabbed a black cube about the size of a tennis ball, and smelled it. Soap. Plain, boring, charcoal soap. Better than nothing, she guessed.

  


She removed her panties, and felt the water. The human rubbed the cube on her skin. It tingled, and itched, and made the grime easier to clean off. No shampoo, but she didn't mind. Sarah took a deep breath. The steam made it easier to hit the low notes. She didn't think of the fact that she was on the moon was altering her voice. She shouted. "Well if you're just as I presumed, a wolf in sheep's clothing! Mocking all that I do. And if it's here we stop, then never again will you see this in your life?" She paused. That hurt her throat.

  


"Hang on to the glory at my right hand." Sarah mumbled that part. Metal wasn't an easy thing to sing. But this song wasn't as bad on beginners. "Here laid to rest is our love ever longed?" The human rubbed the cube on her head, working up a thick, blackish lather. Her head itched, so screw not having shampoo. "With truth on the shores of compassion. You seem to take premise to all of these souls." She had to stop for a minute. Sarah had run out of breath. Now she felt stupid, and just a little angry.

  


"You stormed off to scar the Armada. Like Jesus played martyr, I'll drill through your hands!" Sarah growled. Using anger got her through things before. "The stone for the curse you hath blamed me! With love and devotion, I'll die as you sleep." She knew she had gotten some of the lyrics wrong, but who cared? She didn't have an audience, and if she did, it'd be that insane robot, Starscream. That thought, that robot, got her anger going. "But if you could just write me out to never less wonder? Happy will I become!" She was getting hoarse from the yelling. "Please know that this is no option! So with sin, I condemn you! Demon play! Demon out!" Oh great, the water was getting cold. Just her luck. Not even ten minutes of hot water. Damn purple robots. He probably made the shower like this to piss her off. He'd be glad to know it was working.

  


What Sarah didn't know was that the magenta seeker was behind a wall, arms crossed and frowning in thought. He had landed about the time she started singing about an Armada. He could hear incredibly well, and he could be silent when he wanted to be. Who was this 'Jesus' person supposed to be? This was an odd thing to walk in on. He had no idea that Sarah could sing. Well... if he could call the guttural growling and screaming actual singing. It wasn't anywhere _near_ something like _Carmen_ or _Madam_ _Butterfly_... but it had depth to it, much like an Opera would... he smirked.

  


"Hang on to the glory at my right hand..." Sarah sang, voice rough and low. "Here laid to rest, is our love ever longed?" The female drew in a loud breath, belting the next line. "With truth on the shores of compassion!" Sarah then growled, rinsing her hair and back. "You seem to take premise to all of these- One last kiss for you. One more wish to you." She shut the water off, wringing her hair. "Please make up your mind, girl. I'd do anything for you! A last kiss for you. One more wish to you. Please make up your mind, girl, before I hope you _DIE!_ " She screamed the last part, which made the seeker cringe a bit. It was _nice_ screaming, but... he didn't want to hear _her_ screaming. He started to move to show he was there, but Sarah continued, drying herself off. "Ooh whoa whoa ooh ooh..." Starscream smiled. That part simply flowed.

  


"Be _au_ tiful, for an angry, lovesick, screaming montage..." He muttered. The bot had no clue if he liked it or hated it. But he knew he wanted to hear more of it. "Lucy! I'm home!" He called with a cackle. He saw Sarah running around, trying to get something on, but he didn't look directly at her. Humans didn't like being seen without 'clothing'. Sarah didn't like being seen... at all. He was still stuck on that one. "Don't sneer at me, human. Glad to know you're clean." Starscream looked at the half-naked human, wondering to himself if he would hear her singing again anytime soon.

  


Sarah glared hard at him over her shoulder, pulling her shirt over her head. "Yeah? Well, the heat cut out a few minutes in." She grumbled. The seeker unloaded the contents of his cockpit, allowing himself to wince and bare his fangs at the pain.

  


Starscream glared, smirking. "Is that so?" The seeker leaned down. True, part of him lived for pissing people off. But he didn't know that would happen. He tried to hide a wince of pain when he bent. He didn't want his test subject seeing him weak. "I'll just... fix this later." He managed to hide the pain well enough, but not the sparks that flew out of the hole when he stood. "Err... that didn't just happen." The seeker mumbled.

  


Sarah blinked in confusion. It took her a minute to figure out what had happened. When she finally realized it, her eyes went wide. "You're hurt. What the hell happened to you?" She asked. He looked at her, optics widening a bit. Huh, well, he didn't see _that_ coming. She actually seemed concerned. Just a little, but still, it wasn't anger or silence. He was getting tired of those two. She felt other things, he was sure, but she didn't show them much. And if it took his back being blown open to draw them out... he blinked.

  


"France is what happened. I don't think _diable_ _aile_ will be going back there for a while." He growled, lying on the berth with a muffled grunt. He looked in at her, frowning. "I'm going to recharge for a while. Don't wake me. I need to heal. The tubes come out..." He yawned, claws covering most of his rather large mouth. He blinked a few times, rubbing his optics with the back of his hands. "...abder uh gedup..." He trailed off there, optics closed. He didn't move for a few minutes. He was sleeping.

  


"Fast sleeper." She muttered. He didn't look too beaten up. Lots of scratches on his legs. His back wasn't in view. He almost always slept on his back, but he slept on his side this time. Arms looked fine. He was on his right side, head on his right arm. His left arm was draped over his stomach plating, claws curled under. He looked like he was wearing gloves with the fingers cut off. Those ray things on his arms looked like they'd take off his knuckles if he wasn't careful. There was an almost invisible crack on his cockpit, and his face...his face...

  


He looked so sad. He looked like he was in pain from his back as much as from something else. Apparently, emotions were hard to hide while sleeping. She stared at him. He wasn't so terrifying while he slept. She frowned at her own thoughts. He looked a lot like he needed a hug. "If he asks me for a hug, I'm offing myself on the spot. ...make fun of his chin or something so he'll step on me." She mumbled. Nah, that'd be too mean. She knew what it was like to be mocked for the way she looked...

  


Sarah wrapped her hair in a towel, lying down on her side, back to the injured seeker. She wasn't tired, she had slept for six hours. But there wasn't anything else to do. She'd sing, sure, but she might wake him up. She only sang rock and metal. Screw the happy pop and hip-hop. That music didn't have a soul. "Goodnight, Starscream." She muttered at him, staring into nothing for a good hour until she rolled over to see him again. He looked twice as sad as when she turned over. Sarah frowned, closed her eyes, and eventually fell asleep. She couldn't get his expression out of her head.

 


	8. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stargazing! Because... idk anymore.

Chapter 8: Stars

 

_By night, an atheist half believes in God. ~Edward Young._

 

**X**

 

Prowl went to visit Nell on Tuesday evening. He liked evenings because of the sunset. It was a very clear night, with few clouds. There was a full moon expected. The sun was already starting to set. The city was no place to watch such a display. Where better to see it all than out here? The fact that Nell would be there was a bonus. One he was happy to have. He transformed in front of the barn. The doors were wide open.

 

“Nell, are you in here?” he called into the barn. The lights were off inside, but then he heard a voice above him. “Nell?” He knew she wasn't in the rafters, at least, But he could tell she was close. He stepped inside, looking up.

 

“Yeah! It's me!” He heard it, but just barely.

 

“I hear you, Nell. But where are you?” he called loudly.

 

“I'm up here!” The voice was coming from outside. He walked out of the barn. “Up!” She called. He looked straight above him, and there was Nell, waving.

 

“What are you doing up there?” The ninja bot looked at his friend, crossing his arms. Nell was on the roof of the barn, on her stomach, looking down at him. She looked very bored, but not scared.

 

“Uh... well! I came up here to clean the gutters!” She pointed behind her, making Prowl uneasy. It was a very long fall. Almost fifty feet if he guessed right. He frowned. “And, I _did_ , but the ladder fell over when I tried to get down! So... if you could prop the ladder up on the-” Prowl squatted, engaged his thrusters for a moment, and leaped onto the roof, clearing Nell. She blinked at him. “-or you can go showing off, so long as I get down from here.” She muttered, smiling. Prowl picked her up from behind, holding tight. She turned around in his arms. She didn't want to giggle because his arms rubbed her belly. That'd be awkward for her, at least.

 

“Hang on.” Nell gave a lopsided frown, and put an arm around his neck, one on his chest plate. Prowl's visor widened a bit, but he said nothing. His neck plating was sensitive where the black met gray. And where neck plates met shoulder plates. The ninja bot had a sensitive spot or two. There was a small gap in his neck plating, about a quarter of an inch, that allowed him to move his head. The gap showed wires, but Nell wasn't touching them, so he wasn't too concerned. He jumped, bending his knee joints upon impact. He set Nell on the ground. “You may want to call a professional next time.”

 

She crossed her arms. “I don't like professionals. They act like I don't know what I'm doing when I say they're doing it wrong.” She grinned. The woman blinked, and touched his leg, pointing with her head to a field connected to the stalls. “Go slow, and follow me.” She walked away, opening the gate. She waved him over, and he followed. There, in the field, was Brandy, and with Brandy was a small, thin legged, fluffy, black creature. It looked at Prowl, huge eyes widening.

 

“Is that... Brandy's?” he asked, pointing. Brandy lifted her head at his voice, and walked over to the two. The creature followed her. Brandy looked up at Prowl, stretching her neck to smell him. “Uh...” The dark bot reached out, and lightly ruffled the fluffy bangs between her ears with two fingers. “Hello there.” Brandy shook her head, and walked away, not impressed.

 

“Come in. We have to close the gate.” Nell said, ushering him inside with her hand. “He was born last night. Halfway out by the time I got to him. Tough little colt.”

 

Prowl's visor widened noticeably. “He's already standing?”

 

“Yeah, they have to. Horses, donkeys, hell, anything with hooves learns to walk its first day.” She smiled at him. Nell clicked her tongue at the colt, and it looked at Nell like she had lost her mind. Brandy, on the other hand, came to her hand. “That's a good mama. Huh? Are you a good mama?” She remembered that Prowl was behind her, and cut the baby talk. “There's a full moon out tonight. A blue moon, actually.”

 

“I know. I... don't go out to see the night sky very much. I go to the roof, but I prefer to come out to the country to see it on its better nights.” He couldn't count the times he had recharged under the stars.

 

“And tonight is one of those nights.” Nell said, grinning. “When it comes to leaving for greener pastures, you aren't alone.” Her grin widened, and she giggled. “I know a good spot we can go. Unless you have a spot you'd like to go to?”

 

Prowl smiled. “Lead the way.”

 

Nell smiled. “Gladly.” The woman walked forward, clicking at the black donkey. Brandy held her head high, following Nell. The colt followed Prowl, seemingly amazed by the bot. After a few minutes, Nell came to a stop near a cluster of trees, and sat down. “This spot good for you?”

 

The ninja bot smiled. “Very good.” He sat down next to her, several feet away. The sky was streaked with red and purple. “Not exactly an orange sky... but I do love it.” He said before laying down. Nell followed suit. The little colt came to her, nuzzling her temple.

 

“Stop. Stop... no really, cut it out. No... no... go away... stop trying to eat my hair.” The woman said dully, pushing playfully on the little creatures head. Prowl chuckled at her. She looked over at him. “He's a cute little guy, isn't he?” Nell said, watching the colt sniff Prowl's open hand.

 

“Primus works in wonderful ways.” Prowl said, touching the day old creature with two fingers. It's fur was bristly to touch. He was somewhat afraid to touch it for fear of harming it. The little black creature turned to sniff his hand, and the ninja bot held still. The little creature -what was it called again?- nuzzled his hand, little lips flapping at him. Its muzzle was very soft, velvet to touch. “Fascinating.” He said, smiling. The creature balked at his voice, then trotted about happily. Prowl chuckled.

 

“His name is Casio. Shylock sired him. Total accident, but wait until he's grown up! He'll be a beautiful boy.” Nell said. She looked at Brandy, pointing. “You are such a naughty girl.” She giggled, then looked at Prowl, a bit confused. “Primus? Who or what is Primus, exactly?”

 

“Primus is...” Prowl thought a moment. He turned his head to Nell, who was on her side, listening to him. “Primus is the one that created us. The Autobots and Decepticons alike, I mean. Our race, our species, are called Transformers. The only difference between an Autobot and a Decepticon is belief and faction... and optic color. But, Primus' teachings say that he and the planet of Cybertron are one in the same.” He smiled. “Many believe that Cybertron _is_ Primus himself. Some think it's a metaphor. Some think it's all just one way to say to respect one another.”

 

“...that's an interesting concept, Prowl.” It was a little like her views on life, but also pretty far from it. Some part of her hoped he didn't ask her about it.

 

“What do you believe, if I may ask, Nell?” He asked quietly.

 

Just her luck, he asked. Nell hesitated. “I believe in... life.” She made an obvious dodge. Prowl remained still.

 

“I think everyone does,” he said blankly.

 

The woman blinked at him, sitting up. She didn't know what would happen, but she might as well try. “...I believe that life itself goes on because it _wants_ to go on, not because of some invisible man.” Nell said, smiling softly. “I believe that night gets darkest before dawn comes because the night _knows_ that dawn is coming.” She crossed her arms, smile fading. “But... as for a 'god' or a higher power?” Nell, unsure of how the bot would react, shrugged. “There isn't one.”

 

Prowl sat up at that. Not out of anger or anything, he just wanted to. “How do you know?” The black bot was anything but confused. He was curious, and a little surprised. What made her believe what she believed? Or in this case, didn't believe. “Could... you explain?”

 

“I don't know, it's just a feeling.” Nell blinked. “Well, God and I didn't 'click', so to speak. I didn't understand how God ran things, so I tried to as best I could. I 'asked', or prayed, your choice, but nothing happened. One day, life was good, then, whether I prayed or not, things would flip upside down.” She shrugged, continuing with a strange, practiced tone. Something told him that she had done this several times before. “I mean, I would look around, and there was just destruction. Always retribution but _never_ resolution. I got tired of it. I wondered for a long time if God even _wanted_ us.” Prowl's visor widened a bit, raising a tad in the center. To believe the one that created your kind no longer cared? He could only imagine how that felt.

 

“And, that is how you reached that there was no God?”

 

Nell nodded. “I thought one night, 'Why would God let all of this happen?', and I realized that, no god ever would. So, for me, there must not _be_ one...” She smiled at him. “That's... pretty much it. I was tired of waiting for divine intervention.”

 

Prowl sat there, staring, trying to see her reasoning. He fully understood what she said, but it didn't seem to fit her. Nell as an atheist just seemed... _backwards_ to him. He wanted to say that Nell was 'innocent', but that wasn't it. She was far from innocent, but not in a bad way. It was her love of life that made it a shock. Someone who loved creatures, creations, beings, didn't believe that there was a god who created all of it?

 

Nell blinked, and went to her knees, palms in the cool grass. “That's how I stopped believing in _God_ , but that's just part of it. I believe...” Nell rubbed her hands in the grass, talking quietly. “...the planet, Earth itself, is one huge living thing. But it isn't my god. It's a living thing, but it's made up of trillions of other, smaller things. From the grass to the trees to me, even. We are the Earth. We, the many, are, in a way, one. But we, the one, are not a god.” Nell smiled at him. “...funny.”

 

Prowl's visor shifted. “What is?”

 

“You didn't talk when I finished. I'm used to arguing about it.” She shrugged, and laid down.

 

“I don't see why we would argue. We believe different things, but it shouldn't be an issue.” Prowl laid back down. He didn't move for some time. Brandy and Casio. milled about, straying from one another on occasion. Nell watched the clouds roll about the shifting sky, hands behind her head. They looked like socks, streamers, snakes... she got bored, and looked at Prowl. She stared for a few seconds before sitting on her feet. He did nothing. She coughed. The bot still did nothing. Nell then carefully reached forward, placing her palm on his chest plate.

 

“Can I help you?” The bot said it as politely as possible.

 

“Whoa!” Nell said, falling on her butt, frowning.

 

Prowl sat up, mouth slightly open. He had startled Nell. Oops. “Ah... sorry, Nell.”

 

The woman sat up, head to the side. “I thought you were recharging.”

 

Prowl cocked his head slightly. “So... you touched me?”

 

“To see if you were. I wasn't trying to molest you or something crazy like that.” Nell's eyes widened at her comment. “Uh... eh... forget I said that.”

 

“Said what, Nell?” She was embarrassed, it was obvious. He had noticed she babbled when she was embarrassed. It was cute, in a way.

 

“Exactly...” The woman ran her hand through her pale hair. He noticed that about her, too. She did that when she felt uncomfortable. “Gotta ask, Prowl. Sorry if I'm prying, but... can you...see?” Nell asked.

He laughed at that.

 

“Yes, of course. Tell me though, why do you ask?” Nell was about to say something when it dawned on him. The bot reached up, fingertips skimming the bottom of his visor. “Oh. Right...” This was nothing too new. Sari had asked him this once. It was no big deal.

 

“Yeah...” Nell cocked her head a little. “I'm asking because... well, I don't know what direction you're looking. I thought you were... recharging when I touched you, which was my whole reason for _touching_ you.” She thought she had misstep with her question. She wanted to take it back.

 

He chuckled, lowering his hand. “That's the idea. Your opponent won't know where you're looking. Which can be vital if you need to signal a fellow cyber-ninja. We have hand gestures so subtle that most bots outside of training won't know we made them. But if your opponent sees where you are looking, they'll notice what your hands are doing, too.”

 

“Do all cyber-ninjas have visors?”

 

Prowl's smile slackened. “There aren't that many of us, Nell. I'd have to say, in our entire population...” His mouth slanted in thought. “...seven in every two-hundred-thousand is a cyber-ninja.” His mouth straightened, “And our population is quite large. I'd have to guess... twelve times that... maybe more...”

 

“Damn.” Nell muttered. She brought the subject back to where it started. “So, you do have eyes then?” She asked, smiling very slightly.

 

“No. _I_ have Optics. _You_ have eyes.” He smiled.

 

“Okay, mister accurate. You have optics.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“... care to prove it?” Nell asked quietly.

 

He smiled a bit. “Maybe later...” He laid back down, and Nell followed suit. She got the feeling that later meant never, but that was okay with her.

 

**X**

 

“I told you! A giant, purple, robot jet _thingy_!” The smelly human yelled, arms flailing.

 

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Bumblebee wasn't sure what to do. This smelly human male wasn't making sense. He was talking at rapid fire speeds, and this was the third time he had explained what had happened. “Just relax, _please_ relax! Oh man! Where's Prowl when you need him?” He asked the fading sky. Screaming humans weren't easy or fun to deal with. For some reason, he always wound up dealing with them.

 

“He's with Nell, remember?” Sari said. She was concerned about this teen. He was apparently a bum. He was way too young to be out here. “Who was taken away?”

 

The teen breathed jerkily. “Sarah...” He swallowed. “Sarah was taken...”

 

“Okay. Now, how long has it been?”

 

“Twelve days! I couldn't go to the police because if I told them this they would think I was nuts! 'My friend got kidnapped by a purple jet robot thingy!' How would that have gone?” He yelled, voice rising.

 

“Pfft! I think you're nuts right now.” The yellow bot said, rolling his optics.

 

“Bumblebee!” Sari hissed. She looked at the teen. He was almost as tall as her. He looked like he really needed a bath. “I don't think you're nuts... what's your name?”

 

“Uh... my name's Cole.” He said, scratching his head. “You?”

 

“I'm Sari.” The girl said.

 

“For what?” Cole asked, cocking his blond head. Sari giggled.

 

“No, that's my name. S-A-R-I.” She was used to the misunderstanding.

 

“...oh! Uh... heh...” The blond blinked, smiling with embarrassment. The techno-organic teen smiled at Cole.

 

“How old are you, Cole?”

 

“...eighteen.” He said quietly, rubbing his arm.

 

Sari blinked. “Really?”

 

“Yeah...” He smiled. Sari frowned, hands on her hips. Bumblebee looked down.

 

“So... you live with someone, Cole?” Bumblebee asked. He was pretty sure the human was homeless. No one smelled that bad on purpose. Or, at least he hoped not.

 

“Nope. Well, Sarah traveled with me, uh, me with her, really.”

 

Sari blinked her ice blue eyes. “So, no home then?”

 

Cole grinned at her. “I'm a bum.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around, rocking on his feet. His shoes had holes, but he didn't mind.

 

The techno-teen and the Autobot looked at each other. “I got an idea.” The yellow bot said.

 

“Oh boy.” Sari said, rubbing her face.

 

“Why not _you_ come home with _us_?” He said, arms open.

 

Sari blinked. “Bumblebee, we can't do that!”

 

He grinned at her. “Sure we can! We had Nellie over for the weekend, didn't we? We can keep him for like a week! You know, just help him find his feet.” The hyper yellow bot smiled at his friend.

 

“I _am_ on my feet.” Cole said, blinking innocently. He knew what they meant, but he wasn't one for charity.

 

Sari sighed, fluffing her hair with her exposed hand. “Uh... okay. You can come with us if you want. You can talk to Optimus about what happened... and... maybe you should shower.” She said, smiling.

 

“Uh... you're serious?” Cole said. He blinked, and looked around. “You're not a cop, are you?”

 

“Nope! Closest thing to a cop is Bumblebee's car form.” Sari giggled again. This boy was funny. Bumblebee grinned and transformed, opening his doors.

 

“Hop in!” He said, honking his novelty horn. Cole blinked, and carefully stepped inside the Autobot.

 

“Wait until you meet Nellie! She'll love you.” Sari said, grinning from the drivers seat. Cole smiled sheepishly, and buckled in.

 

“Hold tight, buddy!” Bumblebee's voice said from the radio. With that, they headed for the base.

 


	9. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway here's Wonderwall.

_Chapter 9: Comfort_

 

_If I don't get my hug, I'm gonna eat your face! ~ Online friend._

 

**X**

 

Optimus blinked at the human staring up at him. The data pad was packed with his small-for-a-mech handwriting. He read it over for about the third time, humming to himself. He hated it when he spelled things wrong. The teen was named Cole Grinder. A platinum blond, eighteen years of age, gray eyes, five-foot-nine and underweight. He claimed that a, quoting the teen, 'purple robot jet thingy', had taken his traveling companion, a female named Sarah. According to what Cole had said about her habits and persona, Sarah had something that Ratchet had called, 'Body Dismorphic Disorder.'

 

The medic had run the 'symptoms' through a search engine, and that's what came up. Optimus frowned to himself, thinking over the definition. Someone like her with someone as conceited and violent as a Seeker... he was more than a little concerned about the female. Was he a bit soft-sparked for being worried about someone he'd never met? Maybe so...

 

“So... is that all you can tell me?” He asked, mouth shrinking.

 

The teen shrugged. “Yeah, that's what happened.” He said, shuffling his feet. The red and blue bot smiled slightly. The teen was shy around the taller bots. It'd be interesting to see how he reacted to the rest of the crew.

 

“Well, if that's all... you can stay. Sari and Bumblebee will show you around.” Optimus said with a nod. “Come get me if you need anything. I'll discuss your friend with Ultra Magnus.” The bot walked away.

 

“Okay. And thank you!” The teen said, waving. Sari jokingly pulled his arm back to his side, covering her nose. “...he is _cute_.” Cole said, leaning toward Sari. The red haired teen giggled.

 

“Yeah...” Sari said, smiling. “Now, come on... you _really_ need a shower.” She said, tugging him with both hands.

 

“What the!” The teen said, pulling away. It felt like pincers or tongs had grabbed him. He looked at Sari's left arm, and instantly apologized. “I-I'm sorry I- uh... I thought it was a-a-a tattoo!” He looked half ready to turn and run. Sari blinked, eyeing the black plating and glowing blue circuitry. “It looked too weird to be a prosthetic. No! I didn't mean weird, I meant-!”

 

Sari giggled, looking at her black and blue arm. “That'd be one wicked tattoo, now wouldn't it? It's all me, though. I'm a techno-organic.” She said, beaming, holding up her hand and wiggling her fingers with an almost silent 'whir'. She used to hate what she was, but she had learned that people would accept it if she explained it. People generally thought it was pretty cool. “I'll explain it later, k?” She said, smiling at the wide-eyed look he gave her.

 

“Can I touch it?” He asked, pointing to her arm. She giggled again.

 

“I'll one-up you on that!” She hugged Cole, and spun him once, earning a loud 'eep!' from the teen. She set him down, grinning.

 

“I think I should shower now.” He said, trying not to giggle.

 

“What was your first clue?” Bumblebee said. Sari glared at him over her shoulder.

 

“Come on, I'll get you a towel.” Sari said, grabbing Cole's hand in her exposed one and leading him down the hall. Bumblebee went to the main room, turning on the TV. There was a report of a 'Strange Robot.' that had attacked Paris, France.

 

“Yo! Boss-bot! You'll wanna see this.” He called. Optimus entered the room, still holding the data pad. The red and blue bot came to the back of the couch, resting on his elbows. He watched the grainy footage of a robot, purple, apparently cackling like crazy. The robot fired and fought with a few jets, before getting shot and flying away.

 

“Well,” He said, joints creaking a bit from lack of recharge. “Looks like we've found the...” He yawned, covering his mouth. “Purple... robot... jet... thingy...” He closed his optics, slumping over the couch.

 

“What you say boss-” The yellow bot looked, optics going wide. “-bot? Uh... Prime? You awake?” A groan. “He-he... nope.” He decided to comm Bulkhead, but the big bot wasn't answering. “Aw, man! What am I gonna do with you? I can't move you on my own! Can't let you sleep out here where captain Leno can badmouth you.” He muttered, frowning at the thought of Sentinel dissing his leader for getting tired.

 

“We can be being of use, Bumbles!” Said two familiar Russian accents. The short bot looker over the couch, and there were the twins, grinning.

 

“Lumberjack bot is tired, yes?” Jetfire said, pointing.

 

Jetstorm nodded, spreading his arms wide. “We will help move the lumberjack bot to berth, yes?”

 

“Phew, thanks you guys. I'll show you his room.” They didn't notice Sari walk in. The teen watched, confused, as the three bots tried to lift Optimus off the couch from his less-than-dignified position.. “No, grab his legs. His _legs_. _**His legs!**_ No! Don't _pull_! We gotta get his-”

 

_**THOOM!** _ Sari winced, covering her mouth to hide a giggle. Optimus had been dropped on his front, groaning in pain and muttering the occasional swear word. “...arms.” Bumblebee's voice turned into a whimper, as he and the Twins scampered out of sight. The red and blue bot raised himself to his elbows, frowning.

 

“Great... Sari, did I get a dent?” He said, looking at the techno-teen with one optic. He blinked before closing the optic. “I think...think I got a dent...” He set his head down, seeming content to sleep on the floor. Sari had to wake him up enough to get him to his berth.

 

“...lemme, uh, lemme check.” Sari said, walking carefully up to his face. She got to her knees, and checked him out. He looked like he was smiling a little, which she liked, because he needed to smile more. Her fingers skimmed his helm, going down to his cheek. Her other hand, her left hand, touched his nose armor, rubbing it before going to the gap between his nose armor and lip components. Huh... soft, like metal coated with silicone.

 

Fully awake, and feeling his face plate warm up, Optimus opened an optic.“So, am I good?” He asked quietly.

 

The teen nodded. “Yep! No dents, no dings.” She smiled.

 

“Good...” He pushed himself onto his knees, and stood, using the couch for support. The bot placed his hand on his audio, shaking his head a bit to clear his sight.

 

“He-he... come on, big guy. Lets get you to bed.” Sari said, walking into his room. He followed, leaning on a wall every now and then for support. He made it to the platform, in recharge before he was fully down. “Hehehehe! You look comfy, Optimus...” Sari climbed up to the berth, and crawled up to his chest. Hes was warm, and it was almost midnight. Bumblebee could show Cole around. She liked the warmth. “I can see why you like it up here... it's...” She yawned. “...really warm...” And soon, Sari was asleep.

 

**X**

 

Nell was moving, she knew that. She wasn't on a horse, and she wasn't in a car. Someone was holding her, carrying her somewhere. She wasn't too sure who it was, being half awake. It was kind of cold where they were, and she went into looking for a warm spot. Whatever warm something she had nestled into, it was metal, glass, and chuckling. The woman opened her eyes half way, looking at a familiar ninja bot.

 

“Prowl...” she said quietly. The bot looked down at her, keeping his pace even. “Uh... whatcha doing'?” she asked, blinking.

 

“What I'm doing, Nell, is taking you home.” He said quietly.

 

“I thought I _was_ home.” She mumbled. The bot smiled.

 

“I meant the stable, Nell. I couldn't leave you out in the grass, could I?”

 

Nell yawned, closing her eyes again. “...done it 'fore...” The woman pressed into him, mumbling.

 

“I... didn't catch that, Nell. Say it again?” He asked, visor shifting.

 

“...said you're warm...” The woman grumbled, curling up.

 

“Ah.” He continued to the stable. “I came out of recharge not long ago. It's about midnight. No one called my comm-link, so they may think I'm staying for the night.” He paused for a reply.

 

“...yeah... stay over... yeah...” The woman mumbled.

 

“You sure it's alright?” He asked, climbing over the gate. He walked into the barn

 

“Yeah...” Nell smiled. “...you're a good pillow...”

 

Prowl's visor widened, and he hopped onto the loft. As much as he liked the woman in his arms, he wasn't ready to be a pillow.

 

“Whee...” The woman in his arms muttered. He chuckled at her. Nell was different when she was half awake. “Wait a minute...” She said, placing her hand on his chest plate. “...what about Brandy and her baby...”

 

Baby? What was a... oh, she meant baby. He smiled. “I'll handle them, Nell. You just go back to sleep.”

 

“Mkay, Prowler...” She mumbled. He cocked his head slightly, and set her on the bed. Her eyes opened, and she blinked a few times, trying to focus on his face. “Did I just call you Prowler?”

 

The dark bot nodded, still smiling. The woman blinked a few more times, flopping over with a grunt. He stood to take care of the two creatures still in the field. “Hang on a minute...” Nell mumbled. Prowl paused, and got to one knee, nodding at the woman. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times again. She was trying to stay awake. “You like me, right?”

 

Prowl's visor widened. “Yes, I do like you.” What an odd thing to ask.

 

Nell blinked slowly at him. “...why?” She seemed honestly confused. He thought a minute. He turned around, leaning back on the bed. For some reason, he couldn't look at her while he said it.

 

“Why? Uh... well...” He tapped his fingertips on a knee plate, mouth crooked in thought. “You're love of nature, for one. You like making people happy, even though you take it a bit too far.” He remembered that game of twister, frowning slightly. That really could have hurt something. “The way you handle things... you express yourself freely, and-”

 

There was a gentle buzzing sound behind him, and he turned to find Nell, curled up and out cold. The ninja bot chuckled. He had been told before his voice was soothing. “I'll be right back. I have to take care of Brandy and... Casio, was it?” He dove off the loft, landing gently, going to the field to gather the mother and child.

 

**X**

 

Sarah laid down, the silver claws and black palm holding her down. The tube was coming out. No more painful tubes to trip her up and make her scream obscenities. Starscream would always stop his typing to look at her when she'd do that. Then he'd look them up, and sometimes hum at the meaning. “Hold... still...” The seeker said, grabbing the tube with his opposite hand. He looked down at her, giving her his lopsided frown. “I don't have to remind you that this will hurt, but...” He blinked at her. She had wrapped her arms around his fingers, nodding and squeezing. “And...” He pulled the tube out with one quick movement.

 

“SHIT!” Sarah screamed, gripping his fingers tight. She tried to stop shaking, but it hurt like hell! The tube he had pulled out was the thickest one. The feeding tube. Sarah tried to ignore the thumb rubbing her side, and was somewhat relieved when the hand pulled away. She lay there, panting from pain.

 

The seeker looked at the tube, frowning. “Just relax, and try not to move around. I don't want to cauterize you again.” He hated the smell of burnt flesh. It stung. It stung and lingered. After a few minutes of taking notes, numbly noting the current aria, and thinking of the right formula for the liquid diet Sarah would go on soon, the human spoke up.

 

“Okay, gotta ask.” Sarah said, slowly rolling onto her stomach. It felt weird to not have a tube. But it was the good kind of weird. “What's with the Opera?”

 

The seeker spun in his chair, looking at her with a smug grin. “Opera is, if anything, the most complex thing humans have ever done. The mere dedication required to gain recognition in such a difficult subject is mind boggling.” Mind boggling? Did he hit his head while fighting those jets on Earth? Well, even if he had, he'd be healed by now.

 

“Oh, okay. You might like Heavy Metal. It's hard to do, too. They have a lot in common, really. At least on the level of difficulty.”

 

He rolled his optics at that. “Right...” The seeker said, stretching the word with sarcasm. That got her mad.

 

“Oh my god.” Sarah groaned. She pointed at him, frowning deeply. “You're one of _those_ kinds of people!” She huffed. “I never thought a robot would be one of _those_ kinds of people!”

 

The seeker turned suddenly, walking to the berth, taking a seat. Even sitting down, he loomed over her.“One of _what_ kinds of people?” Starscream asked, leaning on the ledge, frowning. “ _Do_ clear this up for me, because if _that_ was an _in_ sult, _I_ may get to have target  practice.” The growl turned into a dark and angry hiss. “Explain.”

 

The human glared. Like he'd really shoot her. “You are one of _those_ people who think that Metal is for 'heathens' and 'emos'.” She ran a hand through her greasy hair. The seeker blinked. He stiffened his lips, and propped his head up on one hand, the other holding the propped up arm by the elbow. Sarah backed up, not standing due to her aching navel. “What?”

 

“Enlighten me, smart one.” The seeker said, tapping a claw tip against his cheek armor.

 

Sarah peeked through her hair, eyes wide. “Say what?”

 

“Human, I know nothing of this... 'metal'.” He said the word 'metal' slowly. The seeker knew fully well what it was. He just liked speaking with Sarah without her hiding in the back corner. “But, you assume that I think it's a bad thing. So, _do_ enlighten me.” His grin slackened, staring with half open optics. “Because, if you haven't noticed, there's not much else to do up here.” He shrugged at the room as if to prove his point.

 

“It's the _Moon_ , what were you expecting?” She snorted.

 

Starscream blinked, frowning at her. “Back to the heathens and Emus.”

 

“Emos. And they don't like being called that. I'll tell you about them later, okay?” The human said, sitting cross legged. “So...”

 

Staring with a raised eyebrow, the seeker crossed his arms, leaning forward on his elbows. “The Metal.” He smirked. “Explain the 'Metal' to me.”

 

“...right...” Sarah blinked, and thought about it. “Uh, well, Lord Starscream, Metal is a music genre. It has loud drumbeats, huge guitar solos, and amazing vocalists.” She waited for a response.

 

There was a moment of quiet, before the seeker rasped at her. “I want an example.” He said flatly.

 

“You want a _what?_ ” Okay, this was not what she was expecting.

 

“Primus, human, you're that _dense_?” He grumbled, rubbing his optics. How he didn't rip himself open with his claws was beyond her. “I want you to give me an example of Metal.” He said, frowning.

 

Oh shit. Was he actually asking her to... no way. “You... want me... to sing?” She said, not believing him. This was a joke. This _had_ to be a joke.

 

“No, fool, I want you to set yourself on fire. _Yes_ , I want you to _sing!_ ” The seeker was growing frustrated. He knew this female could sing. It wasn't Opera. It was far from it, but he wanted to hear it. When Starscream wanted something, he'd get it. One way, or another. “So...” He said, curling a fist and resting his chin on the knuckles. “How about it, Sarah? Think you can manage?” He was using his 'sexy voice' on her. He was pretty sure it didn't work on humans. He didn't know why he was using it in the first place. He figured it was worth a shot.

 

Sarah growled. “What the hell makes you think I can _sing?_ Can _you_ sing?” She asked, sneering at him. She was getting tired of him. He was so... full of himself! Demanding and demented and... kinda funny when she thought of it. But his bad side outweighed anything she could hope to call his good side.

 

Starscream blinked, optics wide. He looked like he had pulled in his lower lip. The seeker bowed his head, arms around his stomach plating, shaking like crazy. Sarah thought for a second, that she had upset him, but then, “Gahahahahaaaaaa! What the- Pfft! HAHAHAHAHA! What- Hahahah! -have you-Bahaha! Have you heard me _talk_?!” He was laughing. It looked and sounded like he was running out of air. Did robots _need_ to breath?

 

“Yeah, I hear it more than I'd like.” Sarah grumbled, ignoring the manic robot. He had fallen onto his back, giggling. That was creepy, someone like him giggling. He looked at her and rolled to one side, lifting himself on an elbow to do so. The seeker was still giggling. “But, really, listen to the guy from Megadeth. You sound just like him.”

 

The seeker grinned at her, standing up. “Is that a... complement?” He stepped toward her. He grinned wide, licking his fangs with his his glossa. He hadn't meant to make that gesture. He kept talking anyway. “I can assure you, flattery will get you nowhere... nowhere _you_ want to be, at least.” The seeker grinned, and Sarah stood up, growling.

 

“Who the hell-AH!” She fell to her knees, panting and whimpering. Starscream blinked, and reached into her tank. He touched her carefully with his claws, half grabbing, half stroking.

 

“Roll over. Roll over, human, I need to see.” He rolled her himself, uncurling her with surprisingly gentle digits. “Hold on... hold on... and...” He lifted her shirt, looking at her navel. “No blood, no problem.” He dropped her shirt and pulled away, but she started talking.

 

“...hurts... dammit...” Was all he could make out.

 

“So, you're in pain...” He muttered.“...maybe we should skip 'The Metal' until you heal up, eh?” He said quietly, reaching back down, rubbing two knuckles on her stomach. Sarah didn't like it at first, but after a while, it felt... pretty good. He kept it up for a moment or two, before he realized that Sarah was falling asleep. He lifted his hand away, the female going into a ball.

 

He looked at the hand he had used on Sarah, turning it over for a better look. “Hang on to the glory at my right hand...” Starscream half hummed, half mumbled. The seeker smiled almost fondly at the sleeping female. He had been honest when he said he couldn't sing. He hoped that, soon enough, Sarah would sing again. He _did_ have to head back to Earth in a few days. Maybe she'd shower. And if she showered, maybe she'd sing... and, he just might listen in. “Wonderful,” he said, turning back to the monitor and keyboard. He wanted to know what 'Megadeath' was...

 


	10. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleepover of the fucking century!

Chapter 10: Plans

 

_It is a bad plan that admits of no modification. ~ Publius Syrus_

 

**X**

 

When Nell woke up that morning, she didn't remember how she got in her bed. She knew very well that she was not a sleepwalker. She was expecting grass and maybe a bug or two, but not her bed. She stared at the rafters for a moment, before rolling over. She jumped when she found Prowl not far away. He looked at her, visor narrow. Ninja... she forgot about the ninja. Now that she remembered, the woman smiled sheepishly at him.

 

“Hi there.” Nell said, blinking.

 

“Good morning, Nell.” Prowl said, smiling faintly. “How did you recharge?”

 

“I did good... you?” This was strange. She wasn't used to someone being there in the morning.

 

“The same.” He said quietly.

 

Nell sat up, looking at him with half open eyes. “Do you... recharge sitting up?”

 

“Yes, I do.” He said, smiling at her.

 

“Is... that even remotely comfy?” The woman said, fluffing her hair.

 

He nodded. “It's as natural for me as sleeping laying down is for you.”

 

The woman blinked, smiling. “Huh...” She placed her feet on the floor, blinking at him when he stood up. “...I need my coffee.” The woman said, walking to the coffee machine. She picked up a tin, and pulled out a filter packet. “I need to buy more coffee. I'm running low. I'll handle it later.” She turned the coffee maker on, it already gargling away. “This could take a f-”

 

There was a sudden loud song behind him, and Prowl turned slowly to look at a thin, green cellphone, vibrating on the night stand. “Are those... bagpipes?” He asked, visor wide. Nell laughed nervously, scooping up the phone. She flipped it open.

 

“Helenearth.” The woman said. Prowl cocked his head with a whirring chirrup, earning a stifled giggle from Nell. She covered her mouth with her free hand, sitting on the bed. She lowered her hand and sighed, biting her lower lip for a moment. “Hey, Phil.” She said, biting back disdain. She rolled her amber eyes, looking at the ninja bot, pointing at her phone helplessly. “Yeah? What about it?”

 

Prowl stood still, then decided to sit. Nell spoke again a moment later, frustrated with the person on the phone.

 

“D- no. No, I told you this... no! Look I told you-...We have discussed this before, I said I didn't do Rodeos!” By now, Nell was yelling into her cell phone. Her voice seemed to get a little deeper as she yelled. Prowl cocked his head, whirring again. “And you think doing _that_ will make me come out there _sooner_?” A pause. Nell crossed her legs, smirking. “That's better. Now... you know I don't do Rodeos. So, why not tell me why you're asking me for help, hmm?”

 

Prowl made a coughing sound, and Nell held up her free hand, index finger up. “Okay then. What's my pay for the day?” Prowl tried again, opening his mouth. Nell wiggled her finger, and made a face. “Dude, I can't by _gas_ with that... You want me out there, or what?” Prowl got closer, and Nell held all of her fingers up. He frowned.

 

“Ne-” He tried.

 

She opened and closed her hand like a warning, giving a slightly annoyed grin.“You gonna negotiate, or go out a hand short?” Nell said, licking her lips. A pause. “Oh really? Talk to me, then...” Nell frowned, blinking. “Uh-uh... huh... I see... really? What's the catch?” She looked at the rafters, giving a quiet sigh. “Yeah... she bites, doesn't she? Thought so. What... a _Mustang?_ Pff, what next, a _zebra_?” Her eyebrows raised. “Hmm, a _Spanish_ Mustang. Not so far fetched, but she still bites.”

 

“Nell, th-”

 

Nell, giving a faint glare and wide grin, closed the gap between the ninja bots face and her hand, letting her fingers rest over his mouth. “Gimme age, color, gender, temper...” Prowl froze. He wasn't used to such a close touch. He didn't like it, and he was tempted to pull back, but it might offend Nell. “Okay, okay, oh yeah? Ooh, challenge. Alright, deal.” Suddenly, the hand was gone, and Nell hung up her phone. “Butt wipe.” She grumbled under her breath. She set down the phone, and smirked at Prowl. “Sorry, but that guy gets real nasty if he hears other people talking on the phone.”

 

“Uh... understood, Nell.” Prowl said, standing. His faceplate was hot, and he hoped he wasn't blushing. “The, uh, the coffee is done.” He mentioned, looking around.

 

“Whee...” Nell said, heading over to the coffee pot. She blinked, and poured into her large, dark blue mug. “This'll sound random...” She set the coffee pot back in the holder, and continued. “...but ...do I snore?” She blinked, and took a sip of her coffee. “Too hot..”

 

“I wouldn't say _snore_ , Nell. It's... more of a buzzing, really.” The ninja bot cocked his head, giving that same whirring chirrup. Nell giggled, turning a bit to hide her grin. “Alright, just _what_ is so funny?” Prowl said, hands on his hips. The woman only giggled harder, setting down her coffee.

 

“That.” She said, smiling widely.

 

He cocked his head again, making the sound again. “What?”

 

“That noise.” She said, smiling. He frowned. “You can hear it, right?” If he couldn't hear his own sounds, she'd keel over right there.

 

“My... voice? Is... that what's so funny?” He asked, pointing to his mouth. He didn't sound funny to himself...

 

Nell blinked, waving her free hand. His voice was serious and deep, in pitch and feeling, but in no way was it funny. “No, no, your voice isn't what's making me laugh. It's this... sound you make when you cock your head.” His face didn't change. Maybe she was hearing things. She tried again. “You...make this noise when you cock your head. Go on, cock it.” She said, waving her hand at him to try it.

 

Prowl did as she said, and smiled faintly. He heard it that time. “Hmm, I hear it now.” He cocked it the other way, visor shifting. “But I still don't see why my noises are funny.”

 

“Well, it's just...” The woman smiled, fluffing her hair a bit. “You're so serious, and that sound is a funny sound to me...” She smiled a bit wider, looking around a bit. “It's... it's cute, really.”

 

“As your buzzing is to me.” He smirked at her.

 

“What?” She asked, mouth small.

 

“It's a funny sound to hear from you. It's a strange noise. It's the same as whirring is to you.”

 

“So...” Nell cocked her head, giving him a strange, but not unhappy, look. “My buzzing... is _cute?_ ”

 

“Yes.” Prowl smiled lopsidedly at the woman. “It's very cute.”

 

Nell turned her back on him, trying to hide a blush. “Now... uh... about that phone call.”

 

“Yes, that was... interesting.” Interesting was an understatement.

 

Nell grabbed her coffee, sitting on the bed. “Well, the man who called me, Phil, he's hired me to train horses before. We actually met because he wanted me to train a bull for a rodeo a few years ago. Now, I don't do bulls, I do horses. But, anyway,” She took a sip, and set it down. “Still too hot. Anyway, he thought he could get me out to the rodeo about an hour from here for a hundred bucks. He wants my help getting the broncos ready.”

 

“That seems unfair.” From the limited knowledge he had of human currency and labor, what Nell was being asked to do and the pay that was being offered seemed off by a lot.

 

“Yeah, not to brag, Prowl, but I'm damn good at my job. Phil knows that. I'm awful at math, as _you_ know. Phil knows _that_ , too. Now, I'm bad at math, but I'm _not_ stupid.” She smirked.

 

“Clearly. I've seen you work, Nell. You're an amazing trainer.” He wasn't trying to flatter her, he was being honest. He was no good with flattery, be he giving it or receiving it.

 

Nell blushed again, coughing a bit. “Uh... thank you. So, after 'negotiating' with Mr. Happy...” She said, picking up her coffee again. “He told me about a filly he bought. About a year and a half old, Spanish Mustang, dappled black, spitfire temper. Said he can't train her, but he handles Cuban _fighting_ bulls like they're puppies. You know what the real thing is?”

 

“...she bites?” He 'guessed'.

 

Nell giggled. “Bingo. He hates biters.” Prowl smiled. “He's giving me the filly and two hundred bucks for my work. That's a steal. Spanish Mustangs are hard to come by in these times.”

 

“Sounds like you'll have a busy day then.” He mumbled.

 

“Yeah. It's not for another week, though.”

 

Prowl's visor shifted. “...when?”

 

“Weekend after the upcoming one. Why? Interested in going?” She got the feeling she was forgetting something, but she wasn't sure what.

 

The dark bot whirred. “Nell, you're supposed to come out to the warehouse that weekend.” Prowl said, frowning. He watched Nell's eyes go wide, face turning into a scowl.

 

“Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have answered the phone.” She said, grumbling to herself. “See, this is what happens when I don't get my coffee.”

 

“You had no idea that would happen when you answered.” But Nell wasn't really paying attention.

 

“Aw, shit, what am I gonna do now?” Nell smacked herself on the forehead with a light smack, eyes closed. “Ugh... there any way I can visit in three weeks?” She muttered, cracking an eye at him. She seemed irritated with herself.

 

“We're flexible, but I think it should be sooner.” Prowl said, visor going up a bit in the center. A stressed out Nell was not something he liked seeing.

 

“When? I get that you guys can adjust, but... um...” She wasn't sure what to say. There was no chance of Pat being able to watch her horses. Pat was a very busy person, and the woman was just thankful that she had zir as a friend. Prowl's mouth became a flat line.

 

“I can call Optimus and ask.” He stood, hand to the side of his head. Nell blinked at the ninja bot, mouth crooked.

 

“Prowl, i-” The woman began, starting to stand up. Prowl moved his free hand to Nell's face, holding two fingers close to her mouth. She blinked, sighed, and sat down, half glaring at the smirking ninja. “Ninjas.” She muttered, only for the fingers to get closer, just hovering near her top lip. She decided she'd shut it for now. She sure wasn't going to lighten up her glare, though. She'd let him figure out the time for himself.

 

**X**

 

“ _Prime, this is Prowl.”_

 

Optimus awoke with a jolt, staring at the ceiling. The Prime shook his head a bit, trying to wake up. He groaned lowly, answering after a moment. “This is Prime. Ugh... What is it, Prowl?” He was still tired. Did Prowl know what time it was? Actually, he wasn't sure himself. He did know it was too early to be calling him.

 

“ _There has been a scheduling conflict with Nell. Would it be possible to have her at the warehouse this weekend instead of next?”_ Prowl said. He sounded like he was smiling. 

 

“Uh...” He yawned, rolling on his side. “Yeah, sure...” He closed his optics, frowning. He heard a strange noise on the other side. That got his attention, optics open and confused. “Uh... Prowl... did you... did you just _giggle_?” That was weird.

 

The bot on the other end chuckled. _“No, that was Nell. She's... just being silly. Nothing to be concerned about.”_

 

Optimus blinked with a quiet beep. “Um... alright then. You're sure she's okay?”

 

“ _Yes, I am sure.”_ The ninja bot said. He blinked again, and looked up the time. He grumbled.

 

“Prowl... do you know what time it is?” Optimus asked, mouth small. There was a pause.

 

“ _...not when I called... Sorry about that, Prime.”_ He sounded somewhat embarrassed. 

 

“...Nell woke you up, didn't she?”

 

“ _Actually, I woke her... I think.”_

 

Optimus yawned, silencing the other bot. “Know what? Just... just tell me later.”

 

“ _Alright, Prowl out.”_ The ninja bot cut the call. 

 

The red and blue bot rolled his shoulders, moaning at the oncoming processor ache. He felt like someone was watching him, and he opened an optic to look at a very familiar techno-organic. “Sari? ...uh ...w-what are you doing?”

 

She blinked at him, smiling at his confusion. Sari giggled sleepily at him. He was so cute when he was confused. “I was sleeping, big guy.” She blinked. “...what the heck was  _that_ about, anyway?” 

 

He blinked at her. “Nothing.”

 

“...it sure didn't sound like 'nothing', big guy.” She said, blinking at him. He smiled at the sleepy teen.

 

“Just go back to sleep, Sari. It's not important.” He said, smiling at the disheveled looking techno-teen. Her hair was a mess of reddish fluff, ice blue eyes squinting. He was glad he didn't look any different when he woke up. Not if he could help it, anyway.

 

The girl rolled back over, mumbling at him. “Yeah... okay...” After a few seconds of wondering why Sari was on his recharge berth, Optimus fell back into recharge. The arm he wasn't lying on slid down to somewhat cover Sari, somewhat like a shield. The teen smiled in her sleep, scooting closer to her robotic friend. Sari really liked the warmth, but who wouldn't?

 

**X**

 

Cole stared up at the empty rafters, unable to sleep. He was on a cot, in the yellow bot, Bumblebee's room. He wasn't too used to being so welcomed, especially by strangers. The fact that these strangers were robots and what seemed to be a half robot just confused him. He knew that Sarah was accepting of his homosexuality, but he had no idea how others would handle it. A homophobic robot seemed far fetched, but still... “...I gotta leave.” His skin crawled. Cole didn't know why, but he didn't feel safe here anymore.

 

He rolled over, sliding onto the floor. He pulled on his shoes, ruffled his hair, and slipped out of the doorway. Now, he just had to find the exit, and he'd be home free. He just wished he could remember where it was.

 

A low, rumbling cough stopped him, and the young teen turned to see the red and white medical bot looking down at him. What was his name again? Hammer... Socket... Wrench... damn. He couldn't remember. He blinked, and lifted a hand to wave. “...Hi there.” The bot's dark blue optics glowed in the darkness, seeming to narrow.

 

“You turn your aft around right now, youngling. I'm not letting you go without giving you at _least_ a basic check over.” The old medic frowned, arms crossed. “And you're not getting past this old bot. I've dealt with younglings before.” He pointed back to Bumblebee's room, giving a warning glare. “Get a move on, kid. I ain't joking.”

 

Cole, shrinking a little, turned around. So much for plan 'A'. At least he could think up a plan 'B'...and maybe a plan 'C' and 'D' while he was at it...

 

**X**

 

Prowl looked down at Nell, frowning lopsidedly at her. “Why didn't you  _tell_ me it was five-thirty-four?” He asked.

 

Nell pointed at the fingers covering her mouth, eyebrow raised. He beeped, and pulled them away. “Those, for one.” She said, smiling. She didn't think he'd do that to her. His fingers were warm, and felt like highly polished metal. “That was what I was trying to tell you.”

 

“Ah.” It was quiet for a while. Nell finished her coffee after a few minutes, and set the mug down by the coffee maker. She reached her hand out to pour more of the black substance, but changed her mind.

 

“So,” The woman said, walking to her side table. “What now? Is there anything you need to do at the warehouse? Because-” She pulled her shirt over her head, back to the ninja bot. “-I'm pretty busy today. I need to work Lila some. She's fast enough to outrun Shylock, which is saying something, seeing that she has well over two hundred pounds on him.” She grinned at his backside. “All muscle, of course.” She took out a white and blue tie dye tank top, slipping it over her shoulders.

 

Prowl smiled. “Yes, Lila is a very fit creature.” He thought about it. “I've never seen you work Lila before. I'd like to watch, if it's alright.” The ninja bot would have looked at her when he said it, but he was fairly certain she didn't have a shirt on.

 

The woman grinned wide. “Well then, lets go.” Nell said, climbing down the ladder. Prowl jumped off the loft, smiling at her as she walked to Lila's stall. She liked the fact that Prowl had interest in her work. It was more than she could say for some people. He liked horses, which made her happy. A robot who like horses  _and_ could handle her for more than three seconds was great in her book.

 

It was official. For Nell, ninjas were  _awesome_ .

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips coffee* Howdy.
> 
> So anyway. Expect 5 chapters a day until... the end, I guess. That might change, but hell if I know.


	11. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll take Unnecessary Plot Points for 500, Alex.

_Chapter Eleven: Family_

_Families are like fudge- Nice and sweet with a few nuts. ~ Unknown_

 

**X**

 

After discussing it with Optimus, it was decided that Nell would only visit for the day, not spend the night over at the warehouse. That was fine with everyone, with the exception of Sari.

 

“Come on! That's not enough time to do stuff!” The teen said to the woman, circling her.

 

Nell frowned at the teen, scratching her head. “It's plenty of time to do some things, just not everything. You gotta understand, this is new to me. I'm not really 'good' at having things per-planned, you know.” She was wondering where Prowl had run off to. He did that the last time she was over. What was he? Some sort of watcher?

 

“But... but you're leaving in, like, an hour!” Sari pouted.

 

Nell rolled her eyes. “I'm leaving at sunset, which isn't for a few hours. We have plenty of time.” She started walking toward the couch, but Sari grabbed her around the neck. “ACK!”

 

“You're not going anywhere, crazy lady.” The techno-teen then decided to give Nellie the biggest hug ever.

 

Nell flinched. “Lemme go, Sari. You know how I get when I get confined.” The woman said, only to feel the hug tighten. “You're invading my space, you... Space invader!” Nell yelled, scooting backward in a circle. “Help! Get her off! Get her OFF!” The woman yelled, shaking from side to side to escape. “Prime, a little help here?” She called out, jumping up and down with no luck. Optimus decided to intervene, and cleared his throat.

 

“Uh, Sari, do you think you can let go of Nell?” He asked carefully, not liking where this was heading.

 

“But Prime!” She whined, but then blinked. She could have fun with this. Optimus squinted at her. The warning look. Sari, seeing a freshly showered Cole come into the room, humming some tune to himself, got an idea. “Fine! I don't want her anyway! Hey dude! Catch the midget!” She picked Nell up a little, spun, and practically threw the woman at the teen.

 

Cole looked up, seeing the woman coming at him. “No! I can't! I-” Nell collided with a resounding 'smack', and Cole stood there, eyes huge. “-am very wet...” He looked down at her, blinking. “...um...hello?”

 

Sentinel, from the door, made a gagging noise. “Ew, that human is all sticky!”

 

Cole glared at the dark blue bot. “Do you have an off switch, Foghorn?” Sentinel huffed at him, arms crossed. He looked down at Nell, embarrassed. “Eh... sorry, miss.”

 

Nell's eyes went wide, and she sprang backward, shaking herself. “I'm wet...” She said, shaking her arms. “Not liking the wet.” She reeled around a bit, fanning her shirt. “Ew, ew, ew...”

 

The teen blinked, holding the towel around his waist. “Ah... sorry about that! I... didn't...” He blinked at her. “Mean to.”

 

“It's fine...” She glared at Sari. “I am not for throwing.” Nell blinked, and turned to the teen now resting his chin on her shoulder. Her space had been invaded yet again, and she wasn't happy about it. “Excuse me, sir.” She said, raising a very confused eyebrow.

 

The teen blinked innocently at her. “Yes?”

 

Nell frowned, and ducked out from under him. “Can I help you with something? Like... do you want a sandwich? Because if making a sandwich'll get you to back off...” She blinked at him, not liking how this teen was following her. He got close to her face, and studied her. The woman could feel his breath. She frowned, pointing a finger at him. “Don't make me slap you.”

 

Prowl, watching from a dark corner -in fact, his favorite dark corner- beeped at Nell. He knew she couldn't hear it from where they both were, but still. The ninja bot really didn't want Nell hitting anyone. He decided to get a better view of things, and headed upwards with a 'whoosh'. The one thing he liked observing from more than a dark corner was a high place.

 

Bumblebee, who was enjoying the spectacle, decided to butt in. “Careful! She's got good aim!”

 

Cole remained where he was, smirking. “...I think I know you. What's your name?” He asked.

 

Nell's space was being invaded yet again. The yellow bot spoke up, raising a hand. “Cole, you'll want to back up! She's gonna get mean!”

 

Jetstorm called out from the doorway, “Smack him good, short one!”

 

Jetfire giggled, before joining in with his brother. “Ya! Knock his block off!” He made a jab at the air, smiling.

 

Nell blinked, and stared at the teen. She thought about it, where did she know him? Blond hair... the gray eyes... that freaking goofy grin of his. Nell's eyes went wide. This couldn't be true... “...bro?”

 

“MATTIE!” Cole squeaked, hugging the smaller human. “My god, you're alive!” He said, picking her up. At this point, Bumblebee fell off the couch from laughter, the jet twins were pretty confused, and Sentinel left the room, growling about 'Disgusting squishy rituals.' Cole lifted his head from Nell's shoulder, and called after the bot. “Get over it, Leno-bot!” He giggled, and looked at his shocked and wet sister. “So Mattie, how ya been? Huh? Huh?” He was now bouncing. Before the woman could say anything, he hugged her again. “I missed you!”

 

Nell looked around, hands twitching. “Cole... honey... I missed you, too...” She wiggled in his grasp. “But you are really, really wet. I can't handle the wet.” She said quietly.

 

The blond grinned. “You can handle the wet! Hug me!” Nell blinked and did nothing. Cole then picked Nell up, throwing her over one shoulder, despite the smaller humans squeak of protest. “Sari, can you help me out? I'd like to put some clothes on!” He said, the techno-teen giggling. “And Mattie shall be joining us!”

 

“Sure, follow me. I'll try to get a shirt for Nellie, too.” She said, leading the two, one carrying the other, into the laundry room.

 

Cole threw a fist in the air, smiling. “Onward!” Nell smacked her forehead, mumbling. She smiled helplessly at Optimus, who shrugged. She said something about young men and biting, but that was all before the three were out of sight.

 

Prowl, who had been watching from his perch in the rafters, landed next to Optimus. The red bot jumped. “Oh... there you are.” He said, whirring.

 

Prowl pointed where the three humans had walked out. “Why it that person carrying Nell around?”

 

Optimus blinked. “Well... he says he's her brother.” The bot squinted, and crossed his arms.

 

Prowl's visor shifted. “And... you don't believe him?”

 

Optimus shrugged. “I don't know, it just... seems a little too easy. I mean, doesn't anyone else find it at least a little too convenient?” He looked around. “Does anyone agree with me?” He looked forward, as if looking at someone. “Anyone?”

 

Prowl whirred. “Are you feeling alright, Prime?”

 

The red bot placed a hand on his helm, rubbing one of his antennae. “Processor ache. Nothing serious.” The bot went to the concrete couch, taking a seat. He seemed to get those a lot, lately. Prowl sighed quietly, and went to find Nell.

 

**X**

 

Prowl entered the 'laundry room', only to find the human Cole hugging Nell. But Nell wasn't wearing a shirt, and she looked uncomfortable. He couldn't blame her.

 

“Cole, I love you, but I have a bubble.” She ignored the giggling techno-teen, frowning at her younger, and taller, sibling. “You, sweety, are in my bubble.” Nell wasn't huge on personal space, but she did have a point where she wanted to be let go of. She was past that point about twenty seconds ago.

 

Cole wasn't listening, and he hummed, grinning. “You are so _warm_ and so _soft_.” He rubbed his cheek on her head. “And short!” Prowl turned his back on the two, waiting for Nell to have a shirt and Cole to have on more than just a towel.

 

“Prowl, you don't have to do that.” Nell said. The ninja bot turned his head, only showing the edge of his visor.

 

“Yes, he does.” The blond said to the woman. “Turn around, Batman.”

 

Prowl chirruped. He didn't look like a man in a rubber suit, did he?

 

Nell narrowed her eyes. “His name is Prowl, bro.”

 

Cole ignored her comment. He pointed at the dark bot with his thumb, arm around Nell's shoulder. “Did he tell you he was gay? Because sis, I'm gay, too, and I'm not gonna look.”

 

“I'm not gay.” Prowl said, coolly.

 

“Fine, you're Bi, you still don't get too look.” The blond said.

 

“My bod, my choice.” Nell said. “Prowl, if you want to look, look. No big deal. Cole, why are you being rude?”

 

The teen pouted. “Because I don't like the idea of guys ogling you, Mattie.”

 

“Says the naked male hugging his sister.” Prowl let the comment out, smirking.

 

Sari giggled. Cole pointed at her. “No one asked you!”

 

“Fine then.” Prowl said, raising his hands in a shrug. He walked away, seeming to disappear into the shadows.

 

“Prowl, that wasn't directed...” Nell frowned. “...at you.” The woman turned to her brother, raising her shoulders in a shrug. “Cole, what the hell?”

 

The teen raised his hands defensively. “Hey, he was looking at you, sis. I just didn't want some perverted robot looking at you.”

 

Sari hopped off the dryer, and took out a shirt for Nell. “No way, dude. Prowl isn't like that. He doesn't ogle people. He's polite.”

 

Nell slipped the shirt over her head, fluffing her hair. “And, he's a ninja.”

 

Cole blinked. “What's so great about the ninja?”

 

Nell sighed, and turned around while Cole put a shirt on. “He's friendly, he's careful, he's a horse lover, he's a great listener, he's fun-”

 

Sari held her hand up to block the view of Cole pulling his boxers up. “Whoa, are we talking about the same Prowl here, Nellie?”

 

The woman nodded, blushing a little. “At least he's that way with me.”

 

**X**

 

“Nell, why does Cole keep calling you Mattie?” Prowl asked the woman at his foot. She looked at him, frowning a little. At the moment, Cole was eating a pop-tart on a nearby crate. He seemed to be eating it at a faster pace now that he saw the ninja bot talking to his sister. Why didn't Cole like him?

 

“...I, uh, I changed my name to Helena a few years ago.” She ran a hand through her hair, grinning nervously up at him. “Hey, if your name was Matilda, you'd want it changed, too.” Before she could really continue, Cole came over to the two, and grabbed Nell's belt loops. “Hey, hey, hey!” The woman stumbled backwards.

 

The blond looked up at the ninja bot. “...mine.”

 

Cole turned his sister away from Prowl, and walked away. The bot chirruped. Did he do something wrong? He whirred. “I see...” He thought about the name Nell used to go by. He looked up what it meant. Human names often meant something. Matilda meant 'strength in battle', and her current name, Helena, meant 'Torch'. He beeped. Matilda was a nice name to him, but it didn't fit her. Helena fit Nell more than Mattie did. “Interesting.”

 

“Hey, Mattie?” Cole asked.

 

“It's Nell, now. Helena Calder Simon.” She ruffled his hair. She didn't realize how much she missed her brother until now. “Are you still Cole?” She asked the teen snuggling into her stomach.

 

“Hmm. Cole Fredholm Grinder.” He said happily.

 

Nell blinked at him. “You smell like a pop tart.”

 

He poked her rib-cage, smiling.

 

Bumblebee snorted. “Fredholm? What kind of name is _that_?”

 

Cole pouted, glaring at the yellow bot. “What kind of name is Bumblebee?”

 

“A good one, shorty.” He said, smirking.

 

The jet twins came back in, and they both smiled at Nell and her brother. “Short one has brother.” They said together. Again, to Nell, it felt creepy.

 

“Yes, yes she does.” Cole said, hugging Nell.

 

Jetstorm grinned, sitting next to the two. “Is good to be having sibling, yes?”

 

Jetfire sat on the other side. “Especially when sibling is brother.”

 

Nell smiled at the twins. “Yes... It's good to have a brother.” They smiled back.

 

Prowl looked down at Nell from his perch on the crane. She looked so happy with her brother in her lap. His mouth slipped into a slight frown. He had no place in this moment. He jumped to the rafters, landing silently on the ground. He looked back at Nell, smiled at her, and left the room. He didn't need to be in on the moment. They needed some time alone. He was just fine with that.

 

**X**

 

“Well I had a dream I...” Prowl turned to his work table, picking up a pair of shears. They were very large for a human, but they fit his hand perfectly. “...I stood beneath an orange sky. Yes I had a dream I... stood beneath an orange sky...” He swayed a bit to the beat, hips moving from side to side. He liked the song. He liked singing, truth be told. It wasn't his favorite thing to do, but he still enjoyed it.

 

“With my brother standing by... with my brother standing by.” He continued, smiling to himself. He had heard somewhere that plants liked music. If that was true, his trees were in for a treat. “I said, 'Brother, you know, you know, It's a long road we've been walking on... Brother, you know it is you know it is...” He set down the large shears and picked up the smaller pair. “Such a long road we've been walking on.” He checked over his bonsai trees, and found one of his smaller ones needed trimming. “Oh Brother, oh Brother...” Very carefully, he snipped the rouge stem, then smiled.

 

“And I had a dream I stood beneath an orange sky...” When he thought about it, his main tree looked like it needed water. Luckily, he had a hose in his room. The dark bot turned on the water, soaking the earth around the tree. “With my sister standing by... With my sister standing by..” He continued, not noticing someone else was there. “I said Sister, here is what I know now, here is what I know now goes like this-” He turned off the water, and set down the hose, back to the screen.

 

From behind, someone tackled him. The someone rolled over to sit on top of him. “Ah!” He tried to get away, but he found a very heavy weight sitting on his stomach armor. His shock went straight into sever irritation as he glared at the white bot on top of him. “Jazz.” Prowl ground out.

 

The bot grinned. “What, Prowler? You _know_ I'm a music fan. You don't want me to glomp ya, don't go temptin' me, bro.” The bot teased. “And speaking' of bro, Prowl, Nell's brother showed up outta the blue. Weird, huh?”

 

“What...” The black bot asked his friend, ignoring the statement and trying to keep his temper from flaring. “...is a glump?”

 

Jazz smiled. “Called a glomp, man. What people do when they're really happy.”

 

Prowl whirred, not enjoying this. “And _why_ are you happy, Jazz?” The darker bot half growled.

 

Jazz laughed at him, giddy. “Have you heard yourself sing, man? Ya got a sweet set of pipes there, Prowl. I can tell you now, _she_ will _love_ it!” Jazz grinned, hoping he had the younger bot riled enough.

 

Prowl's visor narrowed at the fellow ninja, speaking quickly. “What makes you think I'm singing for Nell?”

 

The white bot smiled down at his friend, still straddling him. Just what he wanted to hear. “Never said you were singin' for _Nell_ , did I? You could be singing for Sari, or some off world femme... or Nell...” He poked Prowl's chest plate with a white fingertip, grinning at the angry and flushed bot under him. “So... I guess right, bro? You singin' for some special femme?”

 

“Get. Off.” The dark bot growled. Jazz shrugged, and hopped off him, darting for the door.

 

“Whatever you say, Prowler.” Jazz said, ducking out of the room as a shuriken flew at his head, embedding itself in the opposite wall.

 

Prowl sat there for a minute, frowning. “...I've lost my place...” He hid his face in his hand, growling quietly. He sighed, walking out of his room to remove the shuriken. Now, he had lost his place in the song _and_ he had to explain that new hole in the wall. He didn't feel like singing anymore after that... 'glomp', is what Jazz had called it. That was random, and he wasn't a fan of random. “Fantastic.”

 


	12. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starscream is... himself.

_Chapter twelve: Scars_

 

_It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars. ~ Garrison Keiller_

 

**X**

 

After much typing, studying, poking, prodding, and thinking, Starscream had figured out what the correct formula for Sarah's new diet was. It was pretty close to what had been filtering through the feeding tube, but after Sarah swallowed, made a face, and flicked her tongue in and out going 'blah-blah-bleh' quietly to herself, he found the problem. It took him a few days before she finally told him the problem, but now he knew.

 

The formula tasted _terrible_ to humans. The female had described it's taste as 'licking the inside of an old boot,' He had no idea what that actually _meant_ , but, thankfully, he had 'backup'. “If you can hold out for a few hours, the new formula will be up and running...” Starscream said, tapping the temperature valve that showed how hot the brew was. “...and tasting like strawberries... whatever in the pit _those_ are...” he said, mumbling the last half.

 

“Strawberries are good.” Sarah mumbled, laying on her side.

 

“Is that so...” He mumbled back. Sarah could now walk about her tank with the tubes out. There was no pain that she complained of. All that was really left was to take down the ion barrier that made up the tank. “Stand up.” He said, leaning down to work on the control panel.

 

Sarah stood up, looking at him from her curtain of greasy, dirt blond hair. “Um... okay, uh, Lord Starscream, what are you doing?” She asked quietly. He was poking the hell out of the control panel.

 

He glanced up at her, still typing. “Inhale, close your eyes, and stay still. I'll be done in a moment.” Seeing Sarah do as he asked, he grinned, and blinked. “Very good. Now, count back from twenty.” He said, still clicking. The blue 'film' the surrounded the tank was gone by the time Sarah got to ten.

 

“Nine, eight, seven, six, five-” The seeker, licking his fangs, turned to the ion barrier back on. No problems. “-four, three, two, one.” When nothing happened, she opened an eye. “Uh... that it?”

 

He smiled at Sarah. The rings worked! “Very good, human.” She could breath without the tank, a very important step. He beeped, and straightened up. “Oh my, time to head to Earth.” He said, leaving her sight. “And I expect you to bathe!” The seeker called out over a wing. He did the same routine he'd always do when leaving for Earth. Cackle, jump up, transform, activate thrusters, and head for the big, blue, mud ball. But that wasn't the plan this time. Now was not a day to go to Earth. Starscream had grown curious about what his test subject did while he was out. He knew she sang, err, _tried_ to sing, but what else? Surely, there were other things to do.

 

After flying around his home a few times, the magenta seeker landed behind the ship. He floated, which he normally couldn't stand to do, and parked himself noiselessly against the wall behind the tank. He couldn't see Sarah, but he could hear her. After a few moments, the sound of water hitting the tub came to him. Okay, shower... boring.

 

“Got one chance, _infiltrate them!_ Get it right, _terminate them!_ The Panzers will, _permeate them!_ Break their pride, _denigrate them!_ ” Sarah sang the song, taking off her shirt. “And their people, _retrograde them!_ Typhus, _deteriate them!_ Epidemic, _devastate them!_ Take no prisoners, _cremate them!”_ The female sang, voice normal on the first half of a line, then deep and rough in the second. Starscream smirked. Her voice wasn't beautiful in the way an opera singer's was. It never would be, with all the screaming she kept-

 

“ _BURN!_ ” Sarah roared, trying to get out of her pants. Starscream whirred at that, optics wide. Primus, she was a loud one. “Going to war, give 'em hell!” She'd tap her foot four times to some beat only she could hear. “D-Day, next stop, Normandy!” Again, she tapped her foot. “Beginning of the end!” She kicked her pants off, trying to remove her panties. “We know how to and sure as shit we'll win!”

 

Huh... he actually _liked_ this song. He tapped a claw to what he was guessing was the songs rhythm.

 

“War is peace, sure man. A retreat for the damned.” Sarah turned to the mock-shower, taking a deep breath. “A playground for the demented, a haven for those who walk this world _bereft of heart and s_ -AHHH! Oh God!” Sarah's low growl turned into a scream of agony, a loud thump following her scream. The seeker's optics flared, thundering back into the room. He had his null rays out, half ready to shoot the air if he had to. There was no one there but he and Sarah... whose left side was bright red. Upon seeing him, the human closed her legs and wrapped her arms around herself, hiding her body. 

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” The female squeaked.

 

“I...forgot something.” Starscream lied. He looked down at her, seeing her leg. “I thought I fixed the water...” The seeker reached under the 'shower', letting the water touch his claws. He pulled back, showing a fang. “Apparently not...” Keeping an optic on the female, he reached under the tank, shutting the water off from the source. “There we are...what in the name of the Unmaker?” What was that? He leaned in close to her body, optics narrowed. There were scars on her chest... one looked like a bite mark. Another looked like a blade had made it. Further down, there were more, and even further down... he didn't want to know where _those_ came from. 

 

“Leave me alone!” She screamed at him, backing into a corner, strange whimpering noises coming from her throat. Starscream pulled back a little, lips twitching a bit. He had only heard Sarah scream when she would sing. This was much different because this actually _worried_ him. He reached toward her, picking her up despite her continued screaming and kicking. “No! NO! AHHH! PUT ME DOWN! AHHH!” The seeker actually winced. He knew these kind of screams. That made it worse.

 

“Calm down. I'm only looking...” He growled, turning her over. She had crossed her arms to cover her chest, shaking and whimpering. Starscream looked at her back, using careful claws to push hair out of the way. His optics flickered, mouth going slack. A small, torn looking scar on her rib-cage, like a hook was dug into her and ripped out. A thick, ugly scar on her right shoulder blade, like it came from a whip or a belt. There were a few small, rigid circles above her left buttock in a small cluster. An image search told him they were called 'cigarette burns'. He had seen the few scars marring her front, some in places that scars shouldn't be. Over all, there had to be about twenty. His optic twitched. “What in Primus' name _happened_ to you?” He asked quietly, turning her to look him in the face.

 

The teen rocked in his grasp, legs clamped shut and arms guarding her sparse chest. She curled into herself, and after a few moments of whimpering and mumbling, she tried to talk. It took her several tries to say it, but Sarah managed to squeak out an answer, feeling half ready to throw up, face hidden in her knees. “...m-my... my father... my father h-happened...” She curled into a ball, shaking, memories coming back to her mind like a brazen smack to the face.

 

Something flickered inside him. A sad, familiar anger. He leaned closer to her, trying to keep his face blank. The seeker's hand tightened slightly around her. “...what...did he do?” He had to know. If she told him what happened, he might know how to help. He'd put a lot of time into keeping the human alive, her health was a high priority. Be it her body or her brain.

 

She looked him in the optics, something ripping her apart from the inside. She looked haunted, if not possessed. Sarah blinked slowly, fingers digging into her arms, knuckles going white. “...everything.”

 

Oh, slag no. Starscream whirred uncomfortably, lips tightening. “I see...”

 

“What the hell do you know?!” The human yelled, trying to look angry. Maybe if she showed him her face, he'd get scared and run. She glared, bearing her teeth. Nothing happened. 

 

Starscream blinked slowly at her, and set her down. He gave a lopsided frown, seeming to think. He bent down and shuffled around for a moment. The next thing the shaking female knew, the seeker had thrown a blanket over her. When she didn't wrap it around herself, he did it for her.

 

“You're losing body heat, female.” He growled. It was cold on the moon. “I regret to say that you and I have _far_ more in common than you think we do.” The seeker said, head propped up on his left hand, right hand and fingers stroking her back carefully. To say he felt sympathy was an understatement. Starscream had lived through several abusive caretakers. What it was that made him think joining the Decepticons would be different was lost to him now. Megatron had proved that anyone with authority would abuse it if given the chance.

 

“You don't know shit.” The shaky female said, trying to hide from the piercing stare.

 

“I would...” He looked at her blankly. “...if you told me.”

 

“NO!” Was about all he understood from the female before the curled up like an old band aid. She talked in gibberish, eventually smacking herself on the side of the head. That worried him. Humans were _not_ supposed to hurt themselves. He placed two fingers between the head and hand, hoping it would stop. It did, but only after she slammed into _him_ a few times.

 

He growled, a low, angry rumble in his chest. His voice rose as he tried to keep it under control.“If you would stop trying to crack your head open for a _second!_ ” The seeker gave her a very light shove on the shoulder, showing his displeasure. “I will explain.” His throat seemed tight as he spoke. “As strange as it seems to be, I have suffered at the hands of several 'caretakers'...” He snarled at the final word. Care wasn't something they, or anyone else for that matter, took with him.

 

Sarah hid her face behind her hair, hoping he didn't see her crying. “They were nothing like him...” She was already shaking like an idiot, but he didn't really seem to notice. She was wrong. He _did_ notice.

 

Starscream was caught off guard by Sarah's sudden leaking. Was she broken or something? He searched online for the behavior. Crying... okay, now that he knew what it was called -and that it was completely _normal_ \- he looked up how to stop it. “Hmm...” The options were many. Some seemed strange, and some seemed like they were made to make him feel weird. Starscream did _not_ cuddle. Rubbing her back... that might cut her open. He settled for resting his hand on her back. “Well, since you claim he did everything to you, I suppose you have a point.”

 

She glared at him, trying to ignore the hand on her back. His fingers were long, and his palm was hot. His entire hand could wrap around her torso. Sarah didn't want to hear him say he knew what she went through. He didn't, pompous ass. She hated to say it, but she liked that he was comforting her. His hand pulled away, and Sarah hated herself for wanting it to come back.

 

Starscream, after a moment or so of thought, decided a subject change was in order. “You see, human...” He said, leaning back, one hand holding his chin, the other on his hip. “You are mine. Does that make sense? You _belong_ to me. If anyone wants to harm you...” He grinned, half baring his fangs. “They have to go through _me_.” He licked his fangs, grinning at her. “And, trust me, Sarah, I am _not_ easy to get through.” The seeker looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. Upon the use of her name, she looked at him, somewhat insulted.

 

“So what, I'm your _pet_ or something?” She said bitterly, wiping her cheeks.

 

“Tsk Tsk Tsk, you are _more_ than that, my dear. You're more like a lab rat, to be honest. A very important lab rat who wasn't handled properly by its past owner, it seems.” The seeker said, optics softening a little. That was as close to 'nice' as he could get without sounding sarcastic. “Considering where I've seen some scars of yours...”

 

Oh god, he _looked_ at those? She couldn't even look at those! “Go hang yourself, you sicko.” Sarah spat.

 

The seeker raised an eyebrow. “For your information, I am _immortal_ , female. Hanging myself wouldn't offline _me_ , anyway. Not with a neck like this.” He grinned, tilting his head at her. Not every bot had a neck as powerful as his. But then again, not every bot armored their neck like he had.

 

“Just because you're a robot doesn't _mean_ you're immortal.” Sarah ground out.

 

He smirked. The seekers optics narrowed, and there was a bright, hot white glowing slit in his forehead. “You see this? This, my dear, is a fragment of the Allspark. Having it inside of me keeps me alive... until it's removed. At the moment, it's _far_ too deep to remove.” He pointed with a claw. Sarah blinked at him. “Ah... so, seeing really _is_ believing for you, then.” He straightened up, and held out his left arm. “Well then, see this...” Starscream lifted his right hand, placing a claw on his upper arm. With a quick push and downward tug, the seeker gritted his teeth, and tore a hole in his armor, exposing the wires and tubes. A shower of sparks flew out of the hole.

 

The human blinked, pulling back. “The hell?” Slowly, carefully, the tear sealed itself up. Sarah blinked, and scowled. “So... you can heal yourself... still, you're _not_ immortal.” She had no idea why she kept provoking him. That grin of his scared her. Her father would grin like that sometimes. She crossed her legs, pulling the blanket close.

 

Starscream's face faltered, his dark optics flickering for a nanosecond. He blinked at her, and stood tall. The magenta seeker backed up, sneering. “So... self healing isn't enough to prove that this gem is the genuine article?” His voice seemed to rasp a bit more than usual. He charged his null rays, and grinned. It was this huge, wide, crazed grin that said to back up and get the net. “I regret nothing!” He shrieked, giving a shrill cackle. With that, he shoved the tips of both null rays into his mouth, touching them together. Knowing that Sarah was watching him, he touched them to the back of his throat and fired. The concentration of power sent a bright shot of purple energy through the back half of his head, creating a hole.

 

The seeker fell back with a loud thud, arms and legs sprawled apart, sparks flying out of his mouth. A strange, dark blue fluid pooled behind his head. His optics were dark, but not quite black. His jaw was slack, seemingly broken. He made a gargling sound, and everything froze. Starscream was dead. Or, at least, it seemed that way to Sarah.

 

“Starscream?” Sarah asked. He hadn't just done that, right? Starscream didn't just shoot himself... _right!?_ “You...you crazy son of a bitch!” The teen yelled at him, feeling her stomach churn at seeing his immobile corpse. “What were you thinking? What the fuck were you _thinking?!_ ”

 

There was a loud whirring sound, like a very big computer starting up, and the seeker sat up, optics bright red. His mouth was wide open as he turned to look at her, seeming to smile at her. His glossa hung out, waving a bit before being pulled in. The magenta seeker blinked, rubbing his head crests. His mouth moved as if to speak, but only a strange gargling sound came out. His optics narrowed, and he lifted his jaw up with a hand, blinking as it snapped into place.

 

“You-” He coughed. “-wanted pro-of...” He pushed himself to his feet, flexing his jaw. Starscream opened his mouth wide, showing the buzzing circuitry and shooting sparks where the back of his throat used to be. Slowly, painfully, the hole closed. Wires connecting, plates sealing up, tubes reconnecting. The seeker became whole again. He cleared his throat loudly, running his glossa over his fangs and lips, smudging them with dark blue. Starscream looked at Sarah, giving a light smile. “There you have it.” The seeker said the last part slowly, crossing his arms proudly over his magenta chest and golden cockpit. He looked and acted like nothing had happened.

 

Sarah stared for a moment, her skin going from pale cream to paper white. She didn't move for a second or two, then, slowly, she tipped over. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and the human fell on her side, eyes closed.

 

Sarah had fainted.

 

The seeker beeped. “Oh, slag.” The magenta seeker said, standing up and getting close. “Female?” He picked her up, turning her over. Had the breathing rings failed? Closer inspection showed that she had only 'passed out', as it was called. She was also exposed, blanket open and legs apart. “Uh...” He closed the blanket around her, mouth crooked. “No need to see _that_.” Other than his test subject having passed out, the rings worked fine. The seeker's lips tightened, optics half open. He looked at the wrapped up female, frowning. Okay, shooting himself was a bad idea, but she had wanted proof! That, and Starscream hated being called a liar when he was being honest. Him showing honesty happened. It was rare, but it happened.

 

Sarah didn't move for a few minutes, and the seeker was starting to worry. Just a little. Well, he could wait for her to wake up. He had notes to write, anyway. Starscream sat in his chair, reading over his work. He found it hard to type one handed after a few minutes. He looked at the human in his hand, and set her on his left leg, near his hip. For several minutes, he typed, occasionally glancing at her.

 

“Bleh... w-what happened?” She asked, sitting up groggily.

 

Starscream whirred, looking down at her with a rather annoyed grin.“Oh, nothing. I shot myself to prove I'm immortal, and you 'passed out.'”

 

“...oh...” Sarah blinked rapidly, shaking her head. “...huh boy...” She wobbled where she sat, alarming the seeker.

 

“You're not going to 'pass out' again, are you?” He asked quickly.

 

“I... bleh... I dunno...” The teen muttered, hand on the side of her head. She blinked at him, shaking her head again. “That... please, don't go doing that again. That scared the shit out of me... Lord Starscream.” The human muttered, leaning against him. She'd seen some sick things, but someone shooting themselves only to come back like nothing happened was something new. It was also something she never wanted to see again.

 

“I'll admit it was extreme, but you did want proof. And, you did tell me to 'go hang myself' earlier.” “Now... as for those...” The seeker said, rolling his hand at the wrist to come up with the right word before giving up. “ _I_ won't bring them up unless _you_ bring them up, understand?”

 

Sarah nodded, curling up on his leg. She had her eyes closed, missing the look of shock and strange, distant pleasure on the seekers long features. Half aware of what he was doing, Starscream rubbed one of his knuckles on her back, feeling her bones through the blanket. He typed on the large keyboard, claw tips dancing about with a light but rapid clicking.

 

_Subject 9 has come a long way, but it has been made clear that she has quite a ways to go. However long it takes for her to move on to stage seven, I will do what I can. I have put too much time and care into this human to let a faulty processor frag it up. If I am forced into finding a subject 10, Project Icarus will be sent to the scrap heap._

 

The seeker paused his musings to look down at the sleeping human. How strange to have an organic creature that wasn't begging for mercy under his claws. She was starting to relax around him, letting him touch her. She was talking to him without being angry about everything. Stockholm Syndrome or not, he was gaining control over the female. Stage seven may be closer than he thought. His optics flashed, lips pulling back into a twisted, happy grin.

 

“You're _mine_.”


	13. Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leno-bot returns, there's a water balloon fight, Cole's a turd, and Nell joins me in the dumpster where we now live.

Chapter thirteen: Safety

 

_Precaution is better than cure. ~Edward Coke_

 

**X**

 

Prowl took the ride to Nell's home slowly, unsure of what he would find. He knew Cole would be there, but he wasn't sure of how the male would react to him. He had made it rather clear that he wasn't a fan of bots. Or, at least, him. That was hard for the ninja bot to understand. He hadn't done anything 'wrong', had he? The bot couldn't think of anything... well, _one_ thing, but that wasn't a real reason. Not to him, anyway.

 

He pulled up to the barn to find Cole outside, petting the large gelding, Champ, and mumbling. At the sound of Prowl pulling up a few feet away, Cole mumbled something, patting Champ on the nose before waving his hands to shoo him. The massive beast snorted, and walked into the field to join the other horses. Prowl raised his hand in greeting. “Hello, Cole.”

 

Cole blinked at him, frowned, and turned to the stable, calling loudly into it. “Mattie! That crazy robot is here!”

 

Prowl chirruped at that. He was anything but crazy.

 

A moment later, Nell yelled back. “Cole, for the last time, he's not crazy!” There was a pause, and Nell spoke up again. “I'm coming down!” And sure enough, down came Nell in khaki's and a red tank top. “Hey, Prowl. Something up?”

 

“I came to take you to the plant. Optimus has questions that should help locate Sarah.”

 

Nell grinned. “You hear that, Cole? Progress! Come on, lets go.” She said, walking toward the dark bot.

 

Cole blinked, and backed up. “Oh, _hell_ , no. I'm not getting on _him_ again.” Prowl had taken Nell and Cole home after Nell's time at the plant was done. The blond teen screamed to 'slow down' the entire ride. Prowl, instead, just for funs sake, leaned to one side only to right himself a second later. The result was a loud 'son of a bitch!' from Cole, and a small kick from Nell.

 

The shorter human turned to him, frowning. “Well, I'm not leaving you alone with the Rosanne. She bit you the last time I left you two alone, now get over here.” She said through clenched teeth.

 

“Rosanne.?” Prowl asked quietly, looking down at the woman.

 

Nell smiled at him. “She's the new mare that guy gave me. She doesn't like men. I plan to work with her on that if Cole would just _listen_ to me!” She said, hand on her hip. “...and not go hitting on everything that moved.” The woman mumbled quietly to herself. She was anything but homophobic. She liked gay people over straight people, to be honest. But Cole hit on just about every 'cowboy' that walked in range. It was a little annoying, but not 'bad'.

 

Cole wagged a finger at his sister in an 'oh no you didn't' way, frowning. “I ain't getting near that crazy thing again! She almost took my hand off!”

 

Nell rolled her eyes. “Maybe if you kept it away from her _mouth!_ ”

 

Prowl beeped, cocking his head. “Nell, Cole, we have to get going.” the dark bot said, transforming. “Climb on... and, Nell?” he asked. If he were still in bot form, he'd be grinning.

 

The woman threw her leg over to get seated, and grabbed the handlebars. “Yeah, Prowl?”

 

“Do you think your brother could _not_ scream the entire ride?” Nell smiled, running a hand over the edge of his windshield.

 

Cole sat with a plop behind his sister, hugging her waist like a life line. “Yeah, yeah, don't tip over, ninja boy.”

 

“I don't plan to.” Prowl said plainly before revving his engine. He sent gravel backward before rocketing out of the driveway. He had to chuckle when Cole squeaked.

 

**X**

 

“Alright, Cole. We need to put a profile of your friend together. This way, we'll have a better idea of why Starscream took her.” Optimus was sitting at the large monitor screen, looking at the human by his foot. “Anything you can tell me will make it go faster. Are there any significant marks? Tattoos, piercings, scars...”

 

“No scars that people can see. She has some, but she covers them up pretty well.” Cole said, looking up at the red and blue bot.

 

Optimus frowned sympathetically. “Okay... now, hair color?”

 

“Uh... dark blond.” The teen said, looking over at Prowl. Prowl was on the other side of the room. As was Nell, who was leaning against a wall. She seemed to be slipping to the floor. Cole blinked. “Can you, uh... excuse me for one second...” The teen turned to walk toward the two, just to see Prowl's hand on his sisters chest. To anyone else, Prowl was catching her, which he was. But to Cole, his sister had been molested by an insane ninja robot. “Hey! Get off!” This caused Prowl to look at him with a confused expression, and Nell to raise a certain finger in his direction as she stood up.

 

Optimus beeped, blinking. “Uh... moving on... eye color?”

 

“Hm? Oh, hazel.” Cole said, not looking away from the two.

 

“Okay... we have it down to about...” He looked at the number on screen, and groaned. “Fourteen thousand, eight-hundred and ninety-seven people.” He smiled sadly at Cole. “There anything else you can tell me?”

 

“Oh, sure.” Cole said, turning back to him with a plastered smile. “She's Canadian.”

 

The red and blue bot blinked. “Really? Okay, that narrows it down to about,” He whirred, and looked down at the blond again. “Still a pretty high number. Anything else?”

 

“I know a lot about her. Lets see...” The teen scratched the back of his head. “She's five feet, seven inches, she's eighteen, and she wears a size seven shoe.”

 

Optimus chirruped as he typed. The bot leaned back in the chair, looking at the results. “Wow, we have it down to five-hundred-and-twelve.” he smiled.

 

Cole bounced up and down on his feet, smiling. “I know more! I know her blood type, too!”

 

Optimus blinked slowly. “...why?”

 

Cole shrugged shyly. “Well, if either of us needed a kidney, we'd have a donor.” He grinned at the wide -optic bot. “Her blood type is O positive.”

 

“...okay...” Optimus typed the information, mouth crooked. “And... wow... now that really helped. We're down to fifty-nine.” He smiled, and turned to the teen on the floor. “Anything else? Last name?”

 

Cole blushed. “Uh... she told me, once... but I forget...but it started with an 'S'!”

 

Optimus, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, blinked in confusion. “You know her blood type but not her last name?”

 

Cole flushed, and seemed to take on a pouting look. “...I miss Sarah.”

 

Optimus nodded, frowning sadly. “I know. Don't worry. I can narrow the results down from here.” The red and blue bot said, typing. He now had sixteen results... and a lot of eliminating to do.

 

“Okay.” The blond said quietly. Optimus gave a lopsided frown, but continued with his search.

 

“Why not check on what Bumblebee's doing. Take your mind off things, okay?” The bot said, distractedly typing and searching. Cole shrugged at him, and walked outside.

 

“How's it going, Optimus?” Someone asked from below. Optimus glanced down at Sari, before hearing her jet pack start and feeling her land on his shoulder. She leaned into his vision, and she smiled. “Huh, got it down pretty far. Any luck?”

 

“Yes... but, something worries me.” He frowned deeply at the screen. He pointed at the screen. There was were several Sarah's, some of them he eliminated right away because they weren't runaways. That left five. One of these five, the one he was pointing to, had the word 'wanted' under it. “This one fits the criteria pretty well. The girl's about sixteen in this photo.” he frowned, eyebrows raised.

 

The red haired teen leaned forward, blinking her crystal blue eyes.“You think that Cole's Sarah could be _this_ Sarah?” Sari frowned. There were thousands of humans called Sarah on Earth, and Optimus thought the one he was looking for was a _murder suspect?_ Optimus, she had learned, had a thing for expecting the worst. “No way... that'd be _too_ weird.”

 

“That's what I'm afraid of. Stranger things have happened.” Optimus said, squinting at the monitor screen and leaning on a fist uncertainly. Sari put an arm around one of his antennae, smiling.

 

“Try not to worry about it, okay big guy?” The techno-teen patted his helm. “You give yourself another processor ache, I'm asking Ratchet to strap you down for a day so you can get some rest.” Sari leaned on him, pressing her cheek to his antennae. “You're starting to worry me.”

 

Optimus sat up carefully, and continued to type in the information. He sighed, sinking in his seat. “Sari, the more I look at it, the more likely it seems to be.” He felt Sari climb upwards. “Uh...”

 

The techno-teen laid on her stomach, leaning over the edge of his helmet to look at him. “So... stop looking.” She grinned at him, and sat up. “Really, Optimus, you need to relax a little.” The techno-teen adjusted herself to sit on her knees. “Come on, big guy, lets get you some fuel.” When the bot did nothing, the teen frowned. “Come on. I know you need it...” She mumbled, pressing her splayed and exposed hand on him. From what she gathered, he needed to recharge and refuel.

 

The bot beneath her sighed lowly, and smirked. “I'll get up if you get out of my systems, deal?” The teen withdrew from him, and the bot stood up. He heard a very quiet growling, and he chirruped. “Sari... did you skip breakfast?”

 

“Uh... oops?” He could almost see her grin.

 

He smiled. “Seems I'm not the only one who needs fuel.” Optimus walked out of the main room, Sari giggling on his head.

 

**X**

 

“Bumblebee's got an arm on him, I'll say that.” Jazz said, watching the spectacle from the roof. Bumblebee, after seeing a rather sad Cole, decided to start a water balloon fight in the plant parking lot. The Jet twins had decided to join in, causing Ratchet to yell at the four of them to be careful. This resulted with a balloon, as well as a wrench, to be thrown. The fight had been going on for about twenty minutes, gathering some other bots to watch.

 

“Glad we're on the roof, eh Prowl?” Jazz asked the darker mech.

 

“Yes...” He had come to the roof after Nell had said she needed to use the bathroom. He had been invited onto the roof by Jazz to watch what was going on down below. It was somewhat entertaining... “I wonder where Nell is...”

 

The white bot pointed at the ground, aiming for the human female walking right into the thick of the 'battle' like nothing was going on. “Don't she know what's up down there? She's gonna get hit.” He said, shaking his head. Prowl stood up, ready to jump into the fray to get her to a... dryer place, but a red blob hurtled through the air, splattering on her shoulder. “Whoop... too late now, bro. She's hit.”

 

“Uh... I'm hit!” Nell said. She poked the darkened patch of clothing, getting to her knees. “Ah... I'm hit... the pain... ow...” The woman said halfheartedly. “Damn, that's cold.” She mumbled before picking up her 'cries of agony' again. “I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die...” Nell then rolled onto her back, frowning. “I'm coming, Elizabeth... I see a light... no, that's the sun... dying, dying, pain, okay, I'm dead.” Nell shook herself a bit, and laid still on her back. She was tired, and was content with using that rogue balloon as an excuse for laying down. Whoa, she really _did_ need to get some sleep.

 

“Aw, man. She ain't even playing.” Jazz said. Prowl whirred loudly, frowning.

 

“Man down! Man down!” Bumblebee called from his place behind a dumpster. He smacked his helm, smiling. “We got a civilian casualty... why didn't you stay inside like a sane person would?” The yellow bot asked the sky before making his way to the 'fallen' woman.

 

Cole poked his head out from behind a trashcan, and stood up. He ran into the parking lot, waving his arms. “Cease fire! Cease fire!”

 

Jetfire peeked out to see Cole flailing his arms. “Is blondy yelling my name?”

 

The blue jet peeked out the other side, and beeped in alarm. “Brother! Short one has been hit!” Jetstorm called, jumping from behind the hunk of plywood protecting them both.

 

“What?” The orange twin yelled before darting out the other side.

 

“Is she... offline?” Jetstorm asked, leaning in close.

 

Cole frowned. “Well, it _was_ a pretty big water balloon...”

 

Bumblebee looked innocently down at the woman. “I'm not sure... oh! Go get a stick! We can poke her and see if she moves.” He grinned down at the 'dead' human, and said, “Since when can dead people glare?”

 

“Now hold it right there, youngling!” Ratchet called from the gate. He had decided to supervise the game, due to the fact that humans and younglings were involved. The medic looked at Nell, who looked back, and then said. “Yup, she's offline.” He said, crossing his arms.

 

“But... Ratchet...” Bumblebee said, nudging Nell carefully with his foot. The woman blinked, sighing. Well, this was certainly going well. “She makes noise, and she breathes. Hey, she just blinked!” The yellow bot put his hands on his hips, frowning. “You sure you know what you're talking about, Doc bot? Cuz she looks fine to me!”

 

Ratchet glared at him from his place by the gate. “Well, I'm the medibot and I say she's offline.” He wanted nothing to do with their game. He _did_ have work to do. Hopefully saying that Nell was offline would end the game.

 

Bumblebee beeped, and turned back to the dumpster. “Whatever. Good luck, Nell.”

 

Sentinel, who was watching from the entrance to the plant, snorted. “The organic's offline, alright. I can smell it's stench from here. You two, move it before it starts to rot!”

 

Jetfire looked at his brother, and back at their commander. “But, Sentinel Prime, sir. We don't think-”

 

“I don't tell you two to _think!_ Now _move it!_ ” The dark blue bot yelled, pointing to the dumpster.

 

The twins looked at each other, and went to pick up the human. “Brother, you grab the humans legs, and I will be grabbing the arms.” Jetstorm said, pointing down at the female.

 

The orange bot looked at his twin, and crossed his arms. “No, _you_ grab her legs, and _I'll_ be grabbing her arms.”

 

“You will go dropping her like you did with other Prime bot!” The blue twin said, giving his twin a small shove.

 

“I didn't drop other Prime bot! _You_ were dropping him _first!_ ” The orange twin said, shoving back.

 

“Uh, guys, I'm still down here.” Nell mumbled quietly. If they weren't careful, she'd get stepped on.

 

From behind the two jets, there came a quiet coughing noise. “I'll take care of the body.” The twins looked down, seeing a rather familiar ninja bot. “You do realize that Nell isn't _really_ offline, right?” Prowl said, hands on his hips.

 

“Ya, we are knowing she is okey for dokey.” Jetstorm said, giving the ninja a thumbs up.

 

“But Sentinel Prime said we are to be putting her into that big trash thing.” Jetfire said, pointing at it with disdain.

 

Prowl chirruped loudly, his visor shifting. “Why?”

 

Sentinel growled. “Because I gave them the order!” The bot yelled, approaching the group. Prowl, the center of his visor pinched in utter annoyance, gathered Nell off the ground, and turned away from the group without a word. He didn't want to waste time and energy on someone as rude as 'Leno-bot.', as he had heard Cole say. Sentinel growled lowly at the bot. “You put that thing down or put it in the dumpster, you stupid ninja!” Prowl walked on like nothing was happening. Sentinel then turned to the twins, glowering. “What are you waiting for? Go and get rid of that thing!”

 

“Better with ninja bot than dumpster, Sentinel Prime sir!” The two said before running back to their hiding place. Sentinel blinked, and glared angrily at the slowly retreating ninja bot.

 

“That stupid meat bag is starting to grind my gears...” He looked down at Cole, who blinked. Sentinel, seeing someone to take some anger out on, growled at the blond teen, pointing angrily. “You stay out of my way, organic.” He then turned on his heel, and stormed back into the plant.

 

Cole grimaced, but ran back behind the trashcans nonetheless. “If that stupid ninja tries anything, I'm gonna...” He knew there was nothing he could really do. He turned, and threw a water balloon in the direction of Bumblebee. And indignant yell said he had hit the yellow bot, probably on the head. Cole grinned. “Gotcha.”

 

And so, the fight continued.

 

**X**

 

“Prowl, this is embarrassing.” The human female said from his arms. She was fine with being picked up when she was sleeping, but this was different.

 

The bot looked down at her calmly, keeping his even pace. How on Earth he walked while looking at her without tripping was beyond her. “You didn't seem to mind a week ago, Nell.”

 

“Well that was different.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Well, for one, I was sleeping when you picked me up.”

 

The ninja bot beeped. “Point taken.” He didn't set her down.

 

Nell saw Bulkhead lean out of his room with a smudge of purple paint on his jaw and waved. The green behemoth smiled before ducking back into the room. Prowl whirred quietly, smiling faintly. He stood in front of the screen that made his door, and nudged the sensor with his elbow. The screen lifted, and he stepped inside, setting Nell down on on the cot. He had it in his room should it arise that she should stay there again. Nell frowned tiredly. “Okay... what's going on?”

 

The black bot crouched, seemed to examine her, and took a seat across from her. “Nell, you worry me. Do you realize what you're doing to yourself? Unnecessary stress takes a massive toll on organics.” He said quietly, the top of his visor a flat line.

 

Nell blinked slowly at her friend, frowning. “Prowl, you do realize that you don't _have_ to care, right?”

 

The ninja bot frowned, visor narrowed. “Do you realize that if you don't want me to visit you, you can tell me?”

 

Okay, that came out of left field. “What the hell... Prowl, Cole didn't freak you out about earlier, did he? Cuz that's what raising my finger was all about.”

 

“I know what the gesture means, Nell.” Prowl whirred loudly, mouth a flat line. “He's... made it clear that he doesn't like my presence. It's understandable. Not everyone is comfortable around us.” It was true, but that didn't make it easy.

 

The look Nell gave him could only be described as her having 'swallowed her own face.' The human was beyond angry, and it showed. Her cheeks turned red, and she made a grunting noise. Nell cleared her throat, pressing the heal of her left hand into her forehead. She spoke carefully, as if raising her voice would rip a hole in the ceiling. “You say my brother doesn't like you, yes?”

 

“Uh... yes.”

 

Nell sighed loudly, shaking her head. “Prowl, sweety... you need to understand something here, okay?” She took a deep breath, and held her hands up. “He doesn't like _anyone_ I'm friends with. Especially when they're guys. He thinks that every guy I'm friends with has an 'ulterior motive' in mind. He's been that way as long as I've been into guys.” She rolled her eyes, and smiled at the bot in front of her. “And, Prowl, seriously, you are not one of those guys. None of them were.”

 

Prowl chirruped, cocking his head in disbelief. “I would never take advantage of you, Nell.”

 

The woman blinked. “I know that. Cole's protective. Gets it from our dad, and he gets some of his... other tendencies from our mom...” She ran a hand through her hair. “Listen, this is... kinda weird, but...” She lowered her voice. “The reason I've been so worried and stressed about Cole is because he's starting to act like our mom. Our mom was Bipolar.”

 

Prowl beeped. “So, you're worried that your brother could have this... illness.” The ninja bot hadn't a clue what 'bipolar' was, but it sounded like something humans shouldn't have.

 

Nell nodded frowning. “Very. He's showing the signs that mom did... in the beginning, I mean.” She stood up, and headed for the door. “I think I should check on him-”

 

Prowl frowned, and carefully scooped up the woman. “Holy!” Nell kicked her legs a bit, and wiggled herself to get free. It didn't work to get her down, but it made Prowl turn her around. The tired woman frowned at the ninja bot. “Prowl, what are you doing?”

 

To her surprise, the bot actually looked irritated. Not scarily angry, just down right irritated. He gave her a lopsided frown, and spoke quietly. “Nell, he won't do anything. You may not think it's true, but you need to recharge.” He set her on the cot, and placed his hands on his knees. “Now.”

 

Nell sighed. “Prowl, I've been here an hour. I can't nap!”

 

His frown deepened. “You tried to recharge standing up, Nell.”

 

She pointed at him with an open hand. “It happens... and you caught me before I fell.”

 

“You attempted to recharge while riding me.”

 

Nell opened her mouth to argue back, but she closed it with a quiet click of her teeth. “You... felt that?”

 

He nodded slightly. “I can feel many things, Nell.” He whirred, and his visor narrowed. He seemed to take a deep breath. “You have an elevated temperature, higher than your average temperature by half a degree. You're also somewhat dehydrated, which I hope to address later. An hour of recharge will do you more good than you realize.”

 

Nell stared at him for a minute, then blinked, and laid on her side with a heavy sigh. “Get me up in ten minutes, okay? If I need more time, I'll say so.” She smiled faintly at his own, somewhat relieved smile, and rolled over so that her back was toward him.

 

Prowl went about his usual business, checking the trees, humming randomly to himself, and keeping an optic on the time. By the time ten minutes went by, he went back over to Nell, who was buzzing as she usually did when she would sleep. “Nell... Nell...” He said slowly and quietly. The human didn't budge. Although he had been told not to wake this human by touch, that was said when she was going to be tickled. Prowl was not going to tickle the human. Instead, he ran his fingers carefully across her back, frowning at how easily he felt her spine. “Time to get up, Nell.”

 

The human groaned, and mumbled quietly. “I dun wanna...” She opened an amber eye to look at him, and blinked it groggily. “Five more minutes?”

 

Prowl chuckled, and grinned. “Why not we make it fifty?”

 

Nell blinked at him again, and rolled back over. “Deal.”


	14. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deadnaming your sibling is a shit idea. Also who's in that crater?

Chapter Fourteen: Panic.

 

_There are times when one has no room to panic. Now, my friend, is that time. ~ An old friend._

 

**X**

 

It was a chilly morning, and the resident horses at 'The Magnolia' weren't up yet. The two humans who lived among the horses, however, were wide awake. It wasn't even dawn yet, and the new ritual between Nell and her brother had begun. Arguing. The two argued a lot more than Nell wanted. Cole kept finding things to argue about. It drove her nuts, but if she didn't defend some things, like a certain ninja, she'd feel bad about it later. “...have you told him yet?” Cole asked, looking sadly at his sister.

 

Nell glared at him. “Told who what?” Not this crap again.

 

Cole winced, then spread his arms out to her, fingers down. “Come on, you know what I mean! I know it isn't exactly easy to talk about, but...” He swallowed before continuing. “I just... I just don't want you to get hurt. You already know how I feel about Prowl...”

 

Nell frowned. She loved her brother, but she could handle this. She had been hurt before, and if she got hurt again, well then, she should have seen it coming. “Why do you think Prowl is going to hurt me? He isn't even into me. That, and he's a Ninja. I don't think Ninjas can even get mad, like he would.” The short female said, crossing her arms.

 

“Yeah? Well, he could have fooled me. Maybe if he didn't hog you...I'd...be...” Cole blinked, and leaned to the side, looking past the angry woman. His face changed from a look of irritation to one of confusion. “Uh... Nell?”

 

Nell poked him in the chest, glaring up at him. “Don't you _even_ change the subject with me, young man. You may get away with back talking me, but you don't _ever_ talk that way to Prowl. He's a nice bot, and you keep trying to bring out a temper I don't think he has.” She was pissed off, and Cole knew it, but he was more interested in what was going behind his sister.

 

“Nell, there's um!” He pointed behind her, hopping from foot to foot in urgency. Why wasn't she listening?

 

“Oh, what? You gotta _piss_ now?”

 

“MATTIE!” The blond teen shrieked, pointing behind the woman with both hands, jumping up and down.

 

“WHAT?!” She yelled, low and deep. Cole blinked. Nell hadn't yelled at him before. He frowned, grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around. She had to see this to understand. He put his chin on her left shoulder, pointing to what he was seeing over her right. 

 

“The trees are on fire.” As he said this, a loud, clanging sound erupted from the trees, and a shower of sparks flew just barely above the tree line. A second later, there was a loud, pain filled scream, high and loud. 

 

Nell stared for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke. “Well... shit...” The woman ducked out from her brothers hug-type-thing, and ran into the barn. The woman grabbed a fire extinguisher from the barn entrance, and handed it to Cole. “Hold this. Someone probably crashed into the trees doing donuts in my spare field again! I need electric fences, I swear...” She dashed to opened Champ's stall, climbing onto his back. She kicked his ribs lightly, and the beast moved out, ears back and head held high. “Get on, dude! We gotta go.” She leaned forward, pushing Champ's neck so that he bent down. Cole, after a minute of staring, climbed aboard the gelding. “Hang on, bro!” Nell called before kicking the horse, sending him into powerful and smooth gallop.

 

“Where the hell are we going?!” Cole yelled in his sister's ear, the fire extinguisher between his legs, holding Nell's waist for dear life.

 

“To put out the fire, duh!” She said, leaning hard to her right to guide the beast under her hips. Champ turned, smelling the air. Smoke, oil, and something else. He snorted, before looking for an opening in the tree line. Despite his size, Champ picked his way through the trees, stumbling here and there as he went. The third or fourth time the male human squealed, he snorted at him in disdain. Why were male humans always so noisy? The Belgian was no mind reader, he was just a very lucky draft horse who knew what his master wanted from him. He carefully emerged on the other side, snorting at the thick black smoke flitting through the air. Nell dismounted, helping Cole down. “Back up, bro!” Nell said, spraying the tree limbs with white foam.

 

Cole looked around for a car or truck that Nell claimed had started the blaze, but found nothing. “Nell, I though you said there was a truck out here?”

 

Nell looked at the teen, frowning. “It could have been a truck. I don't see anything.”

 

“Maybe it crashed through the trees?”

 

“If it had done that, we would know!” Nell yelled. She was getting frustrated with her little brother.

 

“It was an idea, Mattie!”

 

“My name is Nell!” She shouted. And so, the second argument of the day had begun.

 

Champ shook his massive head, small ears flattened tightly against him. His master and the loud boy were busy yelling at one another. They did that too much for his liking. The big gelding didn't care about the fire, he was more concerned about the crater. Didn't the humans smell the smoke coming from it? Someone was in his home, and he had to know who. Champ slid down the short slope to sniff the strange, metal creature. He knew it was like that metal person that came by his home, but it looked different. This one was a light blue, and looked like it had been in a bad fight. The gelding stamped a heavy back hoof, snorting. The metal person flinched, looking pleadingly up at the beast. Champ brayed, and backed up, mouth wide open. He didn't think it was alive!

 

“Champ! C'mon boy!” Nell yelled at her companion. The massive gelding didn't budge, seeming to glare into the crater. Why hadn't she noticed the crater before? Nell approached quickly, leaning over to look, backing up when she saw a bot in the crater. “Holy hell...” She mumbled. Nell flipped open her phone, and dialed 911. “Hello, I need to talk to the Autobots. ...No, it's not a joke, please patch me through... this is an emergency! ...ugh, okay, okay, I'll hold.” For about three minutes, Nell stood there, looking between the horse, the human, and the bot, tapping her foot as fast as it could go. “Come on, pick up!”

 

“ _This is Optimus Prime. State your emergency.”_

 

“Optimus! Holy crap, it's you!” She wasn't sure who would pick up, but she was glad it was him.

 

“ _Nellie? What's going on?”_

 

Nell closed her eyes, trying to think. “There is an injured bot out here. I can't tell if it's one of you or one of them, whoever they are. Get everyone out here. He looks like he got crushed by a very big brick or something!”

 

“ _Can you describe him to me?”_

 

“Very. Big. Brick. He's light blue, and he looks kinda pointy.”

 

“ _We'll be right there. Try to keep him from recharging.”_

 

“Okay, I'll do what I can.” Nell said, hanging up her phone. She looked over at her troubled looking brother, frowning. She looked into the crater again, and sat down, sliding down to reach the bot, standing when she was on level ground. The damaged bot twitched and screamed, sparks flying from a heavy rip in what used to be his chest plate. Nell winced, biting her lower lip, her hands reaching out to his face. “No, no, no, shh.... it's okay. Don't move.” Nell hit her knees, carefully touching a part of the bots face that wasn't cracked or leaking. “It's okay now... We called for help. It'll be okay.” He seemed to be looking at her, but his optics were so dark she couldn't even tell their color. Her heart went out to this being. She swallowed. “Do you know your name?”

 

The robot shook and twitched, trying to say something. His voice seemed high, and he chocked, spitting up some black and green substance. He looked at the creature touching his face, lip components twitching. “Are...” He shook heavily, like he was going to empty his tank. “Are y-you real?” His voice was terribly shaky, he hardly heard it himself.

 

Nell smiled sadly at him, rubbing her hand on his face. He whimpered at her, but it wasn't a sound that said to stop. “Yes... I'm real.” She swallowed, and placed her other hand on what looked like a dark blue spike. “Try again, okay? What is your name?”

 

“Uh...uh...uh... B-blurr.... m-my-name-is-Blurr!” He said, making a heavy creaking noise in a vain attempt to move. He screamed again, coughing up more fluid. This time the thick black was streaked with bright blue. Sparks flew from tears and gashes. Nell winced, biting her lower lip. If she believed in miracles, then this bot, this Blurr, was a big one.

 

“...what happened to you?” Nell muttered, crawling close to the heavily injured bot. She didn't know what to do to calm him down. His head was far too heavy to hold in her lap. She had no idea what the fluids would do to her. But she knew very well that this bot needed comfort. He looked like he'd been through a blender. “Don't move... don't move...” 

 

“Nell, please! Get away from him! You don't know what he could do! You're gonna get killed!” Cole yelled. Champ stomped at the young humans outburst, shaking his mane. Why was this human so noisy? His master was at least trying to help the metal person. The beast shuffled on his hooves, eyeing the young male.

 

Nell glared at her brother. “Cole, he's hurt, he can't move, he hardly knows his own name. He couldn't hurt a flea! Go through the trees, wave your arms, and wait for the Autobots. Don't come back until they come into view, alright?” Cole did nothing. “Go! Take Champ if you have to, just go!” Cole blinked, and quickly picked his way through the trees. Champ snorted, and walked along the tree line.

 

“I-told-you-already-that-my-name-was-Bl-” The bot coughed, bringing up more of the fluid. “uh...Blurr...Blurr...my-name-is-Blurr.” He looked at, or at least he tried, the creature petting him. 

 

Nell grimaced, trying to make eye contact. It scared the hell out of her to see someone's optics and not know if they could even look back. “Listen to me. I don't know your kinds bodies too well, but don't move. There's a medic coming. His name is Ratchet. He will help you, but you've got to not move.” The woman tried to get close again, spreading her bent legs. Nell couldn't take his head in her lap like she would with a hurt horse or human, but she could get close. The woman continued petting him, biting her lip.

 

Blurr's optics opened wide when he felt the creature place its legs on either side of his helm. “No! You're-going-to-get-energon-burns-if-you-aren't-carefUH!” Blurr coughed again, but nothing came up this time. He was getting on Nell's nerves now. The human didn't notice the blue splotch on her arm and leg.

 

“Be smart, and don't move, okay?” She blinked at him, feeling his gaze shift her way. It unnerved her to see someone so beaten up, but still moving. He looked like he had been stepped on by a really, really big boot. He looked like so many things had happened to him, it made the woman furious that someone could do this to another.. “Try to talk if it doesn't hurt... go slow...please?”

 

He looked at her, optics almost black. He couldn't see the organic too well, but he knew she was human. “What...is...your...name?” The beaten bot huffed between words.

 

She smiled softly at him. “My name is Nell.”

 

He panted, closing his optics. “Glad-to-meet-you-Nell-I'd-shake-hands-with-you-but-I-don't-think-I-have-one-anymore.” The pale blue bot huffed, struggling to talk again. His words sounded garbled, but they made it through. “I-wish-we-could-talk-more-but-I-am-really-tired-so-good-night.” He was so tired. He was going into stasis lock.

 

“Blurr?” He said nothing. “Blurr, don't you even think of dying on me.” The woman said, tapping gently at the base of his dark blue head spike. Nell was starting to panic. “Look at me, look at me. Keep talking to me. If you sleep now, you may not wake up.” When he did nothing again, Nell made a fist, knocking on his helm. “...wakey wakey, sleepy bot!” 

 

The bot groaned at her, and opened a darkened optic. “You-are-very-hard-to-ignore-for-an-organic-did-you-know-that-Nell-because-if-not-then-let-me-be-the-first-to-say-that-you-are-a- _very_ -hard-organic-to-ignore!” He said, half panting, half yelling.

 

“And you talk too fast for an organic to ignore.” She smiled sadly at him. 

 

“Nell! They're here!” Cole called through the trees. There was the sound of truck engines, and a grouchy white and red medibot crashed through the trees. Champ snorted and trotted out of the woman's sight to the far end of the field. She'd get him later. Champ was a good horse. They all were, but Champ was special to her.

 

“Please-don't-go.” Blurr mumbled, flexing his half intact hand. “You're-the-first-living-thing-I've-spoken-to-in-a-long-time-and-I- _really_ -don't-want-to-be-alone-again.”

 

Nell rubbed his cheek. “It's okay, Blurr. I won't go anywhere if I can help it, okay? I can't promise anything... but I can try.”

 

Ratchet crashed into view, and Nell waved to him. “Sweet, merciful Primus!” He yelled, charging over. Nell hopped out of the crater, letting the medic do what he had to do. She backed up to where Prowl stood, standing by his leg. She was pretty shaken, and Prowl took notice of it. He carefully put his hand on her back, and she looked up at him.

 

“What happened here, Nell?”

 

The woman shrugged, shaking her head. “He landed here, I guess.”

 

The dark bot whirred. “Are you alright?”

 

The woman swallowed, then reached up to pat his arm. “Yeah... yeah, I'm fine.” She smiled faintly at his fingers rubbing her back.

 

For twenty minutes or so, everyone, Elite Guard included, stood by and watched Ratchet and Sari do what they could for the field agent. Ratchet said that Blurr wasn't stable enough for the key yet, but he would be, soon enough. He was doing the most important repairs now, so that when he got the bot back to the plant, he wouldn't be handling an empty shell. Cole stood by Jazz, arms crossed at Prowl and Nell. Jazz looked down at the human, frowning. “What's gotcha down, dude?”

 

Cole pointed halfheartedly at the black and gold bot standing next to the human female.

 

“Prowl? Nah, man, he's gotta be the most easy going cat I've ever met. What? Don't like him talking to your sis?”

 

“Bingo.” Cole said, seeming to deflate.

 

Nell had decided to sit down by Prowl's foot. After ten minutes of standing, it seemed like a good idea to her. She felt a slight tickle on her arm, and shook it. When the tickle began to hurt, she flung her arm to the side, as if trying to fling off a bug. “Ow... ow!” Nell yelled, shaking her arm. Prowl whirred in alarm at her outburst. “Uh... I think something bit me... ow!” Nell shook her left arm again before thrashing around like her limbs were on fire. “Get it off! GET IT OFF!”

 

Prowl's visor widened. He grabbed Nell by the shoulder, and gasped at the reeling human. “Ratchet! Nell has energon burns!” There was a large, blue ring around a gash in her arm. There was a circular gash on her arm about the size of a base ball! Prowl scooped Nell into his arms, visor wide and raised in the center. He didn't think his visor could widen any further, but it did when Nell screamed, swinging her right leg. There was another hole growing in her leg. It looked like the skin had been scraped away, leaving a raw and bloody gash.

 

“What?!” The medic yelled, loading the somewhat stabilized bot into Bulkhead. He transformed, flinging open his back doors. “Get in! We have to move before it gets in her systems!”

 

Sari, hearing Nell's screams, raced over to the two with a bottle of water. “Prowl, set her down!” She said. The ninja bot set Nell down, trying to not bite his lower lip component. The techno-teen poured water over the gaping wounds, teeth bared. “Easy, Nellie... hold still...” She said, but the smaller human wasn't listening. Prowl had had enough of her flailing around, pinning her down by the hips and shoulder with his hands. Cole, unsure of what was happening, but sure that Prowl had his sister pinned down while she was screaming, bolted.

 

“What did you do?” he growled at the ninja bot. Prowl's visor narrowed to nearly a slit at that.

 

“I did nothing.” the bot growled back, frowning deeply.

 

“Yeah right! Get off her!” Cole snapped, then tried to shove the ninja bot's arm.

 

From below, another hand came up, grabbing Cole by the shirt. He looked down to see a pissed off woman, her eyes half open. “Enough.” Nell mumbled, jerking the fabric to make sure he listened. “Leave him alone, okay? Just... just back off.” She let her hand go slack, frowning at Cole. “...well?” The blond blinked, eyes wide at his sister's outburst, mouth a flat line.

 

The blond's look of shock turned into a hurt gaze. “Fine. See if I care.” He turned around, and walked away. About half way back to the other bots, he gave Nell the finger. Prowl whirred loudly at the teen.

 

“Someone needs a hug.” Sari shook her head. “Okay, I rinsed you off, but you'll need a shower when we get to the base. Lets go!” the techno-teen yelled before running to an already transformed Optimus.

 

Nell snorted as Prowl lifted her up, running toward the medic. “That kid needs an ass-whooping' is what he needs...” she muttered to herself. She smiled up at Prowl. “Brothers...”

 

“Hang on.” Prowl said as he set Nell inside the medic. The doors weren't even shut before he had leaped over the trees, transformed, and waited for Bulkhead to plow the trees down. The entire group headed for the plant, sirens blaring, Optimus and Ultra Magnus leading the way. Prowl drove beside Ratchet, hologram active and sirens blaring.

 

For several minutes, Nell didn't move from her place on the gurney. “Is Blurr gonna be okay?” she finally asked.

 

“He should be alright in a day or two, long as Sari I keep working on him. He'll need an energon transfer from one of us.” He sighed, “He's lucky to be online after receiving that much damage. Glad you found him, Nellie.”

 

The woman looked blankly at the steering wheel before responding. “Same here, Ratchet.”

 

**X**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *lays in traffic* It's okay. I'm still here, too.


	15. Temper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sentinel is not having a good day.

Chapter fifteen: Temper.

 

_A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. ~ Washington Irving._

 

**X**

 

Why Nell wasn't as worried about her arm and leg as Prowl was beyond her. Ratchet told her the words 'nerve damage' and she phased out. For how long, she had no clue. The human was more worried about Blurr than anything. She had faith in Ratchet, which was saying something, seeing she didn't have faith in anything. Nell was dragged outside the base and into the back lot. She had to wonder where Prowl was as she was thrown under a large shower head. ...wait, shower head?

 

“Hold out your arms!” Sari called. Nell did as told, and with a loud squeak, she was doused in cold water. “Now, just stay still. I'll get you some clothes.” the techno teen said, darting out of the woman's waterlogged sight.

 

“...this sucks, this sucks... holy hell this _sucks!_ ” the woman mumbled under her breath, stamping her foot at the frigid water. It was already a cold day. The sun was up, but the day was cloudy. The water stopped after a minute or two, leaving the human aggravated and frowning in her place. “...shit.” she didn't know where Cole was. If he was still at the stables, he'd give her hell when she got home. If he was here... he'd still give her hell. “Great.” Sari came back with clothing and a towel. “Sari, any clue where Cole is?” the woman said as she took off her shirt.

 

“He was at the stables last I saw him.” Sari took the shirt, and handed the woman a towel.

 

“Ew... it's showing its parts!” A very familiar voice said. There was Sentinel Prime, Captain Chin, Leno-bot, whatever you wanted to call him, standing and watching. Whoever he was, Nell wasn't up for dealing with him.

 

Sari rolled her eyes. “If you don't like it, don't watch it.”

 

“Kinda hard not to when that thing is walking around like that. You wouldn't find a self-respecting Autobot walking around with their wires showing.”

 

Nell sighed, trying to ignore the bot. “I'm a human, and, I'm half naked. _You_ don't get to look at humans that are naked without the human giving you permission.” Nell frowned, turning around to take off her pants.

 

“Who'd want to look at a half naked human?” The bot said with disgust.

 

“Other humans.” Sari said, glaring. She tapped Nell's shoulder. “I'm gonna put these in the dryer, okay? I'll be right back.” With that, Sari was off with Nell's clothes.

 

Why Sentinel Prime thought it was wise to talk to the human was beyond him. He changed the subject. “You could've offlined yourself helping Blurr, you know that, right?” when Nell said nothing, Sentinel's optics flashed a bit. He did _not_ like being ignored. “You hear me, organic? You may think you saved his spark, but you were just being stupid.”

 

The human pulled her shirt over her head.“I'm not in the mood.” Nell growled, fluffing her hair. The energon, Ratchet told her, had burned her flesh to a point that she would have nerve damage. It didn't matter how much he, or anyone else, apologized about it. She'd be lucky to feel the places on her arm and leg where she'd been burned. It wouldn't be an issue if she had just listened to Blurr.

 

The bot snorted. “Mood? Pfft! What's that supposed to mean, mea-” the loud bot was interrupted by a towel being thrown at his leg. “GAH!” he shrieked, and yelled at the woman while shaking a clenched fist. “What in the pit is wrong with you?!”

 

That did it. “I have _nerve_ damage, I'm _tired_ , I'm _worried_ and _you_ want to tell _me_ how _I_ messed up? Go fuck yourself!” The woman yelled, pulling her pants up. She turned away from the dark blue bot, ignoring the stares she got from the jet twins as well as Prowl, who followed her after jumping from the roof. About a minute later, Nell yelled again. “Back off, Prowl! I don't want to talk!” there was silence, and Prowl walked back out of the plant, only to jump back onto the roof.

 

Optimus, who hadn't heard Nell yell like that in a long time, let alone see her throw something at someone, walked out into the lot, eyebrows raised in alarm. “Sentinel, what's going on?”

 

The bot glared deadly at the fellow Prime, sneering at the towel on the ground. “That fragging organic assaulted me.”

 

The red and blue bot chirruped loudly. “Assault? Sentinel, it was a towel! You can't be serious about assault.” Optimus said, resisting the urge to slap himself on the helm at his fellow Primes stupidity.

 

Sentinel growled, jabbing the other in the chest plate with an angry finger. “Why do you keep defending those stupid organics?”

 

Optimus narrowed his optics, standing still. If Sentinel Prime wanted to act like a jerk, he'd let him. The bot was just going to make things worse on himself. “Organics are _not_ stupid, Sentinel. They're a lot smarter than some bots I know.”

 

The dark blue bot glared at him. “What's that supposed to mean?”

 

Optimus did the smart thing, and said nothing.

 

“You're just siding with that stupid organic because you're 'facing that techno-organic freak!”

 

Optimus blinked, and glared at the other bot hotly. “What did you say?”

 

Sentinel shrugged, crossing his arms. “Why else would you give a frag about these organics unless you're 'facing one of them?”

 

Optimus' lips pulled back to show his teeth. Saying that about Sari crossed the line, and the red bot had a _thick_ line. “Take that back.” He growled.

 

Sentinel smiled cockily at him. “Make me, old buddy.”

 

And make him, he did. Before either knew anything, Optimus Prime swung at the other bot, punching him square in the mouth. Sentinel fell on his back with a loud clang. Before he could get up by himself, Optimus-who was apologizing like mad- hefted him up and dragged him into the med-bay. Ratchet had managed to get Blurr stable. Upon seeing the two Primes-one leaking from his gaping maw, the other from his hand- he said the first thing to come to mind. “It's about time.”

 

“Shud ub!” Sentinel bellowed, free hand over his mouth. Optimus slipped out from under the dark bot, frowning as he sat.

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah... sit down, I'll get to you two in a minute.” the old bot had gotten Blurr's more vital components working, and Bumblebee had been more than willing to help his fellow speed demon out with an energon donation. In short, Blurr was physically fine, but cosmetically... oh boy, he was a wreck. “So, what'd he say to get you all riled?” the medibot asked while poking around Optimus' hand, fixing the source of the leak.

 

“I'd... rather not talk about it.” the red and blue bot said, looking at the ground as the medic worked.

 

“Optimus?” someone said from the berth. There was Nell, sitting by Blurr's crushed in head. He blinked at her, and looked away, looking embarrassed. Nell looked at him, and then at Sentinel, then back at him again. “Win.”

 

“Now, your turn.” the medibot said, prying the dark blue bots mouth open.

 

“Geh yur hanzsh ouduh mah moush!” Sentinel gargled as the older bot did his work.

 

“Oh hush. You didn't hear Optimus complaining about his hand, did ya?” Ratchet said, poking the roof of the bots mouth while doing a scan on him. “Here we go.” he said as he pulled a loose piece of tooth plating back into place with a wet pop. “There we are.”

 

Sentinel snorted, and stomped out of the medbay. Ratchet sighed. “Not even a thank you. Ya better follow him, Prime, unless you want to get hauled in for something ya didn't do.” Optimus was already up and after the bot. Ratchet rolled his optics, and went to work on fixing the outer plating of Blurr's right leg. Nell sat there watching him for about ten minutes. She was getting bored.

 

Someone entered the medbay. “Hey doc. You got any clue where Nellie is?” Jazz asked. The medibot nodded, and pointed by Blurr's helm. Jazz walked over to the rather pouty looking female, and waved at her.

 

Nell frowned, and looked at the white bot next to her. “What's up?”

 

Jazz frowned, and pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “Ultra Magnus needs you for something. Says he needs some outside assistance, dig?”

 

Nell blinked, and grabbed Jazz's hand. “Dig.”

 

“Lets roll.” he said, setting her on his shoulder. Nell put her arm on his head to keep steady. “You're a warm one.” he said, grinning. The white bot stepped out of the plant, heading for the Elite Guard ship. “You ain't easily wigged out, are ya, doll?” Nell patted his head, smirking. “Thought so.” he walked up the ramp, punched in a code of some sort, and entered the ship. The short human felt a little strange, sitting on the bot. She'd never ridden on a shoulder before. She normally got lugged around in hands or, in some cases, arms, but this was new. “Don't go falling off, now.” the bot said, chuckling.

 

They went through the control center, up another ramp, then stopped in front of Ultra Magnus quarters. The commander had taken Nell here after a run in with Sentinel. Jazz put his hand by her, and she leaned forward, letting him grab her. His hand didn't even fit all the way around her. “I ain't trying to spook you or nothing like that, but you're gonna be dealing with three angry bots with a load of questions. Answer 'em nicely, and don't interrupt Ultra Magnus. Sentinel's gonna go glaring at you for coming on 'his' ship, but don't worry about it, k?”

 

“Got it.” she said, nodding. Jazz smiled, and set her down.

 

“Ladies first.” the bot said, giving her a smile. The door slid upwards. There they were, two Primes, a Magnus, and a techno organic. “Commander.” Jazz said with a salute.

 

“Jazz.” Ultra Magnus said with a light nod. The white bot turned around, and the door slid shut. Nell walked toward the desk, and stopped.

 

“Uh... is there a... a ladder?” She said quietly. Sentinel snorted. Ultra Magnus pinched Nell's shirt, lifting her up to his desk. “Oh... thank you.”

 

The commander blinked, and lifted a data pad. “Human Nell, please explain the events that cause Optimus Prime to assault Sentinel Prime.”

 

Nell blinked. “I'm... not sure.” she said, looking at Sari, who looked like she had been asked the same things.

 

Ultra Magnus wrote something on the pad. “Did you throw a towel at Sentinel Prime?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

His optics narrowed. “What was your reason?”

 

“He was being rude. He was watching me put clothes on, he said I was stupid... that's all.”

 

The bot scribbled, frowning. Nell looked from left to right. Optimus gave a very faint nod, standing tall and patient. Sentinel sneered at her, arms crossed. The human swallowed, and took a deep breath. “Can I ask you a few things?”

 

The hammer-wielding bot gave a curt nod. Nell thought for a minute. “Okay... how high is the level of Prime in the rank system?”

 

Ultra Magnus blinked. “The Magnus is the leader of the people of Cybertron, and is overseer to all those in the High Council. Prime is the highest rank one can have after Magnus. Then is the rank of Major, and then the rank of Minor, then Cadet, then private, and finally, civilian.” the woman blinked at him. “Is that easy to understand?”

 

Nell nodded. “Very... are there any sub ranks?”

 

Ultra Magnus squinted. “Sub ranks?”

 

“Like... uh... Sub-Prime or... eh...” she couldn't think of anything else as an example.

 

“Ah.” the older bot said quietly. “No, there are no sub rankings.” he raised an eyebrow slightly.

 

A snort from the back made the woman jolt in her seat. “Pfft! Is this _going_ anywhere?” Sentinel's voice seemed loud in the room. Ultra Magnus glared lightly at the younger bot, and he shut his mouth.

 

“As you were saying?” the Magnus said slowly. Nell blinked, and cleared her throat.

 

The woman fluffed her hair, tempted to glare at Sentinel over her shoulder. Sari seemed to be ready to blow his head off. Nell continued. “If all Primes are equal to one another, then why does Sentinel get away with what he does?”

 

The hammer-wielding bot beeped. “Excuse me?”

 

Sari cut in. “Sentinel's a jerk. Why is he treated like he's not?” the techno-teen crossed her arms.

 

“Hey fleshy, I'm standing right here!” Sentinel yelled. Optimus stood where he was, arms folded behind his back.

 

Sari rolled her eyes. “See?”

 

“Sentinel Prime is my second in command.”

 

“...okay, why him? Not saying your judgment sucks... but Sentinel is kinda... eh.” Nell shrugged.

 

“Excuse me?” the dark blue bot said loudly.

 

Ultra Magnus seemed to be thinking, but of what, Sari and Nell were unsure. The commander bot lifted a hand, and comm'd someone. “Jetfire and Jetstorm, please report to my office.” A minute later, the twins entered, looking confused. “Take these two to the holding cells. I will join you shortly.”

 

Upon hearing this, Sari freaked out. “What?”Sari looked sadly at Optimus, who shrugged with a light smile as the door slid shut. The techno-teen looked at her friend, shoving her shoulder. “Way to go, Nellie. You got Optimus in trouble, too!”

 

“Ultra Magnus wanted the truth, and that's what I told him.” Nell said, wincing. Why was Sari yelling at her?

 

“Yeah? Well because of your stupid honesty he's locked up with that jerk!” Sari yelled, pointing at the human female angrily.

 

Nell blinked and frowned. “Sari, I think they'd be put in separate cells.”

 

“Well duh!” the techno-teen said, glaring.

 

“Stop yelling at me, you know how I get when people yell at me.” Nell said, fear in her voice.

 

There was a loud thump behind them. Ultra Magnus had had enough of the two females arguing on his desk. “Enough, younglings.” the Autobot commander said, emitting a low rumble. Nell, unsure what to do, sat down, eyes big.

 

“Sorry, sir.” Nell said. She then looked at Sari, who had her arms crossed. The older human felt cornered. Nell was claustrophobic, but she almost always had been. “Uh...” she looked to her left, then her right, then at Ultra Magnus. “C-can I get down from here, please?”

 

The hammer-wielding bot nodded, and placed his free hand in front of the female. Nell climbed into the hand, and was lowered to the floor. The human crept out of it, and headed for the door. “Thank you, sir.” with that, Nell headed for the door, heart pounding against her ribs. She wanted to check on Ratchet and Blurr.

 

**X**

 

Ratchet could tell something was off with Nellie, but she didn't seem in the mood to talk. She seemed more in the mood to lay next the fully stabilized Blurr and mope. The medibot didn't want anyone moping in his medbay.

 

“Go ahead and talk, kid. I know ya got something on your processor. Known ya long enough to know that much, and then some.” the medibot said, not looking up from the work he was doing on Blurr's leg.

 

Nell laid by Blurr's head, watching the sleeping bot. He had to be in recharge while the medic fixed him, otherwise he'd be screaming for who knew how long. Nell, after a moment of thought, said what was on her mind. “...everyone's mad at me.”

 

“Really?” Ratchet said, still not looking up. “I find it hard to believe that _everyone's_ mad.” he regarded her quickly, before going back to work on some wiring. “Care to elaborate there, Nellie?”

 

The woman sat up to tell him off, but she knew very well where that would lead. “Okay, I will.” she took a deep breath. “Cole's mad because I yelled at him, Sentinel's mad at me because I told him to f-off, Sari is mad because I told Ultra Magnus the truth, so now _both_ the Primes are locked up, Prowl's mad at me for yelling at him, Optimus is probably mad at me for getting him locked up, and now you're probably hoping I'd shut up.” she said quietly, waiting for the red and white bot to yell at her. “I just make things worse.”

 

Ratchet sighed, looking at her with a deep frown. “Nellie, listen to yourself. _Cole's_ a teenager, Sentinel's an aft, _Sari's_ a teenager, Optimus ain't mad at anyone but himself right now, Prowl ain't got a mad gear in him, and I asked!” he put his hand on his hip, pointing at the female with a wrench. “So, what are _you_ talking about?”

 

Nell sighed, laying on her back. “Just ignore me, okay? I'm not making sense.” she looked at Blurr, who's mouth twitched in recharge. She carefully patted his helm, smiling faintly. “At least _you_ aren't mad.”

 

The red and white medibot shook his head. “Not gonna ignore ya, Nell. Ignoring ya won't help. You're making plenty of sense, but you've had a slagged up day. Don't go getting your wires in a knot over something you can't control...” as he said that, sparks shot out of Blurr's legs, and the old medibot tapped it with the wrench. “Quit doing that!”

 

Nell giggled. “Ah, seems someone is feeling better.” a voice said from behind. Nell squeaked, and turned to see Prowl standing there, face blank.

 

“...how, uh, how long have you been there?”

 

“Long enough to agree with what Ratchet said to you.” He said, smiling at her. When Nell looked at the rafters like she had done so many times before, he whirred. “Nell, Ratchet's right. I'm not mad. I have no right to be. I have no _reason_ to be.”

 

“I yelled at you.” She said flatly.

 

He beeped. “You needed space, and I gave it to you.”

 

“I still _yelled_ at you. I don't normally go and _do_ that.” she frowned, eyes half open.

 

“That's no reason for me to be mad. Seeing the circumstances that brought your anger out, I can't say I would act differently.” the ninja bot said, cocking his head.

 

The human female blinked, and glanced at the medic. The medibot was smiling, popping out a rather large dent in the light blue bots leg armor. “This is gonna sound funny for me to ask you and all...” Nell blushed a bit, looking at her friend with a sideways glance. “...but I could really use a hug.”

 

There was a loud whirring sound. “I'd-hug-you-but-my-arms-aren't-working-all-too-well.” a voice said almost too fast for the human to understand. Nell squeaked and fell off the repair berth. Blurr whirred again, and attempted to look down at the fallen female. “Oh-slag-I-didn't-mean-to-do-that-I-am-so-sorry-you-know-I-didn't-mean-to-do-that-to-her-right?” Blurr asked the crouching ninja bot, optics huge.

 

“Uh...right.” Prowl picked Nell up with both hands, holding her.

 

“Thanks... I keep getting injured today.” She said to the ninja bot, embarrassed.

 

Prowl looked down at her before lifting her to his chest plate. “You did say you needed a hug, Nell.” He was more than happy to oblige, seeing she more than needed one. The dark bot slid his right arm under her left, while his left went behind her knees. Prowl pulled her to him, smiling faintly. She put her arms around his neck, closing her eyes. “I'll take you home.” Prowl said quietly. He set Nell down, and walked to the plant exit, the woman following close behind.

 

Blurr spoke up again after the two left, moving his arms while he spoke. Blurr was known as a hand-talker. “Aw-hey-Ratchet-are-those-two-a-couple-because-they-look-like-OW!” Blurr yelped, sitting up to look at his legs. The left leg wheel was still buckled inward, and his right leg looked like a crushed soda can. “Now-that-was-weird-I-thought-my-legs-were-fixed-hey-doc-bot-why-aren't-my-legs-working-yet-because-I-can't-feel-anything-in-my-right-leg-but-my-left-leg-feels-everything-are-they-supposed-to-be-doing-that-or-what-because-if-I-should-be-feeling-what-is-going-on?”

 

“I would fix them if ya'd hold _still!_ ” Ratchet smacked what could be called Blurr's 'good' leg, before going back to work on the hyper sounding bot. “You can say what you like, Blurr, but they ain't a couple.” The silence that followed would have worried the medic, had he not seen the look of complete shock the blue bot gave him. He smirked. “It's true, they ain't a couple.”

 

Blurr, for lack of a better term, flipped out. “Are-you- _serious_ -about-that-doc-because-I-swear-if-I-didn't-know-any-better-I-would-say-they-were-a-couple-and-a-cute-couple-at-that-and-I'm-not-just-saying-that-you-know-because-I-know-a-good-couple-when-I-see-one!” The bot said, making several sweeping gestures with his arms during the process. Ratchet sighed loudly, shaking his helm as he popped out the left leg tire. “OH-sweet-merciful-Primus-that-hurt!” Why he was even awake during this part was beyond the speedster.

 

“Is he supposed to talk that fast?” a voice from below asked. Ratchet looked down at Sari, who shrugged. “How are you two holding up?”

 

“No complaints here.” Ratchet mumbled, popping out more dents. Every time he'd pop one out, Blurr would pull back. This was getting annoying “Blurr, look at this.” Ratchet said.

 

“Hmm? What-do-you-need-me-to-see-doc-b-!” Blurr stopped short as the EMP generator sent him back to dreamland. His pointy head fell back with a clunk.

 

“There, now I can get some _real_ work done.” The medic growled, pulling up a piece of leg armor to replace a cracked energon line.

 

“Did he say what happened?” Sari asked, hoisting herself onto the berth.

 

The medic nodded. “Said that slagging double agent, Shockwave, went nuts on him. Put him in a compacter. Guessing by the way he got bent, he curled up to protect himself. Said he heard that slagging Con say to put him in an incinerator. The thing didn't work, so he, and a load of junk, got launched off the planet, instead. Saved his spark. Thank Primus he landed in Nell's field... although it does seem a little too... _convenient_...” he mumbled the ending, more to himself than anyone, picking up a rag to clean his hands. “I'm gonna stop working on him, seeing he's stable and all. You can use the key on him tomorrow, see how that works. If it does, okay then. If not, I'm gonna have a lot of work to do.” he sighed, tossing the rag in a bin.

 

Sari patted the sleeping bot, smiling. “Glad he's alive.” She frowned, sitting on her legs. “...how's Nellie doing?”

 

Ratchet sighed. “Well... it could have been a lot worse. Glad you rinsed her off when ya did, otherwise she'd probably loose use of her arm.” he said.

 

“Oh... is she mad at me?”

 

The red and white bot smacked the side of his helm, groaning. “For sparks sake, kid. Why do you humans keep thinking you're mad at each other? You saved her aft today, who'd be mad at you for that?” he growled. “ _She_ thinks you got your wires in a knot over Optimus getting 'locked up', as she put it.”

 

Sari blinked. “I was... but she wasn't trying to get him put away. Ultra Magnus said he'd be out in a day, and so would Sentinel.” the techno-teen said, grumbling the last part.

 

Ratchet hummed in thought at that. “Sari, if you get a chance, try to get a reading on Sentinel. I've got a hunch there might be something up with his processor.”

 

“Dude, somethings been wrong with him since forever!” she laughed.

 

Ratchet growled, “He's been acting a lot more aggressive, especially around organics. I've run diagnostics on that bot before, and tonight, something was up with him. But that glitch head of a Prime wouldn't hold still long enough for an in depth look, so I'm in the dark about just what's going on.”

 

Sari's eyebrows pinched and lifted, eyes wide. “You're serious?”

 

The medibot nodded, frowning. “I have a theory about that bot.” He sighed, “Primus knows, I hope I'm wrong.”

 

**X**

 

Somewhere on the Elite Guard ship, there was a very pissed off bot. He knew this wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to be locked up because of some stupid organic. He had thought Ultra Magnus was going to yell at the stupid female for talking to him that way, but no! He thanked her. He thanked that filthy bag of meat!

 

He had given his version of what happened, and he was told to shut up! He was Sentinel Prime! He couldn't let some stupid organic have say over him! “I'll fix that stupid glitch...” the dark blue bot growled before sitting on the berth. “...as soon as I get out of here...” The bot decided to try and recharge. He'd think over how to fix this later. He couldn't let a glitch go and ruin the system, could he?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws tires onto fire* Yolo.


	16. Liars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liar Clone Returns. Here comes Screamy!

Chapter Sixteen: Liars.

 

_Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived. ~ Sissela Bok_

 

**X**

 

For some reason, Starscream was gone a lot. The human he had, Sarah, was certain he was avoiding her. She knew why, after the 'incident', he'd been quiet. The occasional question here and there, of course, but not much else. The female kept up the idea that she hated the insane seeker. She didn't exactly _hate_ him, but she didn't understand him, which made him hard for her to like. He was so unpredictable. She had stopped thinking of him as an asinine, hair brained, psycho, and saw him as more of someone who knew what he was doing, but not all of the time.

 

Not much time had passed since she had been exposed, as she saw it. She had a meltdown, and Starscream didn't really freak out. Sarah had expected him to ignore her scary little crying jag, but not so. He had been concerned. She woke up in his lap, for gods sake. “Never gonna get that crazy ass robot.” she mumbled, sitting in the middle of her tank. It was pretty big, but not too comfy. Starscream had taken off for Earth again. It had been an hour or so, and it was a little... annoying. She missed him. As annoying and strange as he was, she _missed_ him.

 

“...I need something to do...” she mumbled. Singing was always an option. “What's a good song...” she had, in truth, grown a bit tired of singing. She had plenty of songs to do, but the drive wasn't quite there. Sarah loved the song she was thinking of, but she didn't know the parts in Latin. She was also terrible at the female vocals, but, seeing that she was bored and kind of lonely without that screaming jackass around... “People created religious inventions to give their lives a glimmer of hope and to ease their fear of dying. And people created religious intentions only to feel superior and to have a license to kill...” She took a deep breath, and growled the male part. “Our desire to die is stronger than all your desire for life! There is no getting away from it now! Only true faith survives!”

 

The male part took a lot out of her, and the female took a breather. “Damn, I forgot how hard this song was...” the human froze. “Starscream?” she mumbled. She had seen a shadow, but nothing happened. Sarah thought that the magenta seeker had landed, but she would have heard it. She sighed, and continued the song. Maybe she was seeing things. “People created religious inventions to give their lives a glimmer of hope and to ease their fear of dying. And people created religious ascensions to subject the others and to enslave, just to further enrich themselves...”

 

Sarah took a deep breath, and roared the next part. “Our desire to die is stronger than all your desire for life! There is no getting away from it now! Only true faith survives!” it ended with a scream.

 

“Oh my, what horrendous sounds! Are you in pain?” came a voice from behind the rather tired female. Sarah looked around. When did Starscream get back? He'd only left a while ago.

 

“Starscream?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. Someone stepped into view, or at least out from behind the wall. There were the wings, and the claws... but he was in the shadows. Starscream didn't do that unless he was pissed off. He didn't _sound_ pissed off. “Uh... is something wrong?” she knew her singing was terrible, but... wait a minute. She crept forward on her hands and knees, looking at the seeker before her. He did the same, taking a step forward, grinning.

 

“Nothing's wrong, human. What gave you _that_ impression?” he said, grinning darkly.

 

The human blinked a few times, and glared at the seeker in front of her. “...you're not Starscream...” Sarah muttered, backing up. What was going on?

 

The seeker grinned, stepping forward cockily. “Of course I am, human!” he said, putting his hands on his cockpit. “Who else could it be?” he said, placing his hands on his hips.

 

“Starscream is purple and _black_. You're white and _red_. You are _not_ Lord Starscream.” Sarah growled, pointing at him while backing away. “I don't know who you are... but you aren't Starscream.” the angry and confused human said, back pressed against the ion barrier of her tank.

 

The seeker held his hands up as if defending himself. “I _never_ said I was Starscream! You're a silly organic. Come here. I promise not to harm you...” that smirk of his said differently.

 

Sarah blinked, trying to figure this out. He sounded just like Starscream, but he looked nothing like him. Starscream had more bulk to him, was far more powerful looking. This seeker looked like... well, this guy looked kinda wimpy. Or as wimpy as a seeker _could_ look, but when you compare most bots to Starscream, most bots were nothing special. “No.” the human said firmly. Sarah knew the Starscream wouldn't hurt her on purpose... but this guy... this guy seemed confused, like he couldn't make up his mind. Or, more like... he kept changing his mind.

 

“Fine, _don't_ come to me.” the white seeker said, then plunged his hand into the tank. “I'm not going to pick you up, I swear.” the white seeker said as he reached downward. The human ran from him, trying to stay out of reach, but the seeker was persistent. After a moment or two, he caught Sarah by the arm, yanking her upwards.

 

“You son of a bitch!” the human screamed, kicking her legs.

 

“I am not!” he said, shaking her by the arm, causing the human to scream and make a nasty popping noise.

 

“AHHH!” Sarah shrieked again, feeling her arm stretch and burn as her shoulder was pulled from its socket. “That fucking hurt, you sick bastard! Let me go!” the female screamed, eyes watering.

 

“Aw... that didn't _really_ hurt, did it?” the white bot said slowly, lifting her to his face. Sarah glared at him, teeth gritted from pain. The seeker grinned, and tossed her into the air, catching her in his left hand. “I never wanted a human pet.” he said, giving the seething female a light squeeze. “I'm a better owner than whoever this Starscream person is. I'd _never_ hurt you like what Starscream did to your arm!” he said, squeezing the human again.

 

“You're crazy, you hear me you stupid robot?! You're out of your fucking _mind!_ ” Sarah didn't know why she kept screaming when it did her no good. For the first time, the white seeker frowned at her.

 

“I am _not_ out of my _mind_ , I'm very _stupid_ , and _you're_ staying _here!_ ” the seeker growled, squeezing her with each emphasized word.

 

“I can't...” she wheezed sharply, “... _breeeaaathe!_ ”

 

“You don't need to _breathe!_ ” he said, squeezing her again. The rest of the air in Sarah's lungs came out in a heavy, wet sounding gush, a strange crunching noise following. She wheezed, coughed, and stopped moving, her face contorted with pain. Her ribs had been cracked. “Aw... I didn't _kill_ you, did I?” he said before shaking her. Sarah stirred with a loud whimper, and fell silent again. “Ooh, seems I did.”

 

From behind the wall, a bright bolt of purple hit the white seeker in the wing. He fell to the floor in a loud heap, a sparking and smoldering hole in his left wingtip. He screamed, “AHHH! What the spark was that?!”

 

From the shadows, null rays at the ready, was Starscream, looking at his clone like one would at a target. He was furious. “What do you think _you're_ doing here?” the magenta seeker growled, stepping forward.

 

The clone blinked, optics big and feigning innocence. “Me? Oh, nothing. I was just dropping by to say hello!” he said, trying to hide the pain in his wing. He had his hands behind his back, concealing the injured female.

 

Starscream cocked an eyebrow. He knew this clone well. He was a pathological liar, and anyone who knew him for over a minute knew it. He stepped closer, optics mere slits. “What is that behind your back?” the seeker asked slowly. When the clone did nothing, he growled, “Show me before I rip your arms off myself.” he rumbled, lowering his head and bearing his fangs.

 

The clone showed the angry seeker his empty hand, smiling.

 

Starscream didn't move. “...and in your _other_ hand?” he muttered darkly.

 

“Oh, nothing important...” the white seeker said, smile turning into a grin, raising his other hand. “...just an offlined organic.” he said, showing the magenta seeker Sarah's limp body.

 

Starscream, upon seeing Sarah in the clawed hand of his old, and long thought offline, clone, twitched violently. His lip components pulled back to show his fangs, his optics glowing like hellfire. The enraged seeker charged his null rays, the ends glowing hot and eager to fire. “Get away from her, you glitch!” he shrieked, upper lip shaking from the barely contained rage. No one touched his human!

 

“Oh, I'm no glitch.” the white clone said, free hand on his cockpit. “Not if you want this dead squishy back.” he wiggled her around a bit, damaging her further. He didn't hear the human whimper, but Starscream did.

 

“Put her down, you stupid, scrapheap of a knockoff.” the magenta seeker rasped lowly through his fangs. His optics were fiery slits, stance and null rays ready to take the glitch headed clone offline.

 

“Sure, I'll put her down!” the clone grinned, pulled his arm back, and threw the human at the seeker.

 

Despite the lower level of gravity on the moon, Sarah came at him with a lot of speed. Starscream reached out, catching the human roughly in his claws. He had a null ray aimed at the clone, who was backing up to escape. Starscream shot him without looking, knocking the white seeker onto his back. He moaned, but didn't move. “Wake up, female. Wake up. I _know_ you're not offline.” he growled. The magenta seeker could feel her heartbeat, as erratic and rapid as it was. She glanced up at him, clearly in pain.

 

“...ribs....AUGH!” Sarah gasped out, trying not to cry. She was pretty sure her ribs were broken. The seeker frowned, going to set her in the tank. She was still in his hand when the clone rushed him, knocking him on his side. Sarah hit the floor hard, smacking her head on the ion barrier before slamming onto her side. Everything was spinning.

 

“Get off me, you slagheap!”

 

“I'm not on you!” there was a loud crunching sound. Sarah couldn't tell who was screaming at who, and she couldn't move to look. All she could do was lie there and pant.

 

“Give up, you worthless carbon copy!” claws against metal.

 

“Who's a carbon copy?!” glass breaking. A body being pinned against a wall.

 

“Slagger!” a loud, ringing thud. Someone thrown to the floor.

 

“Fool!” metal being ripped open.

 

“Pit spawn!” loud, rapid pounding.

 

“Idiot!” Null rays being fired. Screams... the sound of struggling and grunts filled the air. Sarah closed her eyes, breathing sharply through her mouth. She was terrified. What if Starscream was losing the fight? What would happen to her if he died?

 

“Is _this_ what you're looking for?!” there was a sound of shattered glass, ripped metal and a high scream, then everything went quiet. A loud thud rang out, but all Sarah could do was stare at the ceiling while the two seekers ripped each other to shreds. She could only hope that Starscream came out the victor. She was sure one of them was dead...

 

From the shadows, there came a seeker with a gold cockpit, a magenta chest, silver and black limbs, and a tired, yet pleased, expression on his long, silver faceplate. Starscream had won, but it sure didn't look like it had been done easily. He had a large gash on his left cheek, and several deep rips and claw marks across his chest and arms. It looked like part of his right wing was shot off. Had she the energy, Sarah would have sighed with relief. He was fine.

 

Seeing Sarah was still where he left her, Starscream strode over, looking rather triumphant despite his mangled body. “Well, that's one less problem you and I will have to deal with.” he said, smirking. Sarah blinked slowly, and groaned. She was dizzy, and it was hard to breath. Her eyes closed, and her head rolled to the side.

 

“Human?” the seeker asked the human in the tank. She didn't move. He tried again, a hint of desperation in his screechy voice. “Sarah?” the human stirred, moving her head to look at him, hazel eyes glassy. The seeker sighed quietly, leaning forward. “Can you hear me?” he asked, and the female nodded weakly, almost to a point that he didn't catch it. “Can you see me?” he asked softly. She blinked at him. “Sarah... _can_ you _see_ me?” the seeker asked slowly, squinting at her. She stared at him a moment, and coughed, blood staining her chin and neck.

 

“Oh, slag!” now he was worried. Blood was _not_ supposed to come out of a human mouth. “Don't you even _think_ of offlining on me! If you offline, I'll kill you!” okay, maybe threatening her was a bad idea. He wanted to pick her up, check her over to make sure she was still functioning, but he knew she was badly damaged. The magenta seeker had done enough research on humans to know when to not pick one up, and a quick scan, limited as his scans were, showed torso, cranium, and limb damage. “Slag it to pit!” if he didn't act soon, she'd offline. He wouldn't admit it, but he couldn't handle losing another test subject. He had an idea... “No time to lose... hang on, human.”

 

As the seeker scooped her into his hands, Sarah felt intense pain across her ribs and in her shoulder. “No! AHHH!” her ribs were screaming, her arm was in pain, and her head was throbbing. She could hear and feel Starscream thunder his way around, feel the limited air rush past her. She tried to speak to him, but she only made a gargling noise, coughing up more blood. “...Staaarr....screeeaam...!” she gagged, closing her eyes. It was getting dark...

 

The frantic seeker knew what he was looking for, but he was in such a frenzy he hardly heard the human say his name. He halted, and looked down at the female in his hands, optics widening at the blood. Sarah's eyes had closed, and her chest was moving wrong, going too fast and too far out, and her arm was just hanging there. The seeker didn't bother hiding his concern as he drew in his lower lip. Not like she could see it with her eyes shut. “Just... hold still...” he said, moving one hand from under her back slowly and calmly to her arm. He took it between his thumb and finger, and lightly jerked it upward, popping it back into place.

 

“AHH!” Sarah gave a small scream, her breathing growing shallow and jerky. “...thangyoo...” she mumbled, eyes cracking a bit to look at him. He looked somewhat panicked, and there were scratches on his face and chest armor from where the had... “...the...white one...” she muttered, trying to speak despite the severe pain. “...wha?” at least her arm was back in place. She was more awake now because of it being put right. They were moving again, but not as fast. Starscream's steps were jerky, like he had to force himself to slow down. Maybe he didn't want to jostle her...

 

“He's offline.” the seeker said plainly, staring forward as he wound through the halls. “He was one of my clones. I made them a while ago, long before you came along.” he said lowly. “One of my best creations, as well as mistakes... a word of advice, _never_ clone yourself.” he came to the door he was looking for, but he had to move his hand again to punch in the access code. “...don't panic.” he said sternly, his left hand sliding out from under the female's legs and buttocks, typing the code in as the huge doors parted. He glanced down at the injured human, her eyes closed and breathing slow. With the other test subjects, they had died in the first few days. Some were too old, some would have survived if not for ending their lives, some he simply grew tired of. Starscream had put too much effort into this one. Sarah, Subject Nine, whatever she was called, _would_ see the final stage of **Project** **Icarus**. One way or another.

 

“....shi....” the human mumbled, unable to complete even a simple word. “...ng...fullah...AHH!” Sarah screamed, tears streaking her face. “... uh... tire...” she gasped for air, tasting copper, feeling her lungs give up as more blood came out. “...nuh...mmm...” she was so tired...

 

“Don't fall asleep.” Starscream said, forcing his panic to the back of his thoughts. He walked through the room, walking past several damaged stasis pods. “Just... keep talking. Say something, anything at all. Do anything to stay awake, alright?” he was looking for an intact one. He knew there were several, but he had to find the right kind of pod. There were stasis pods that held a bot in recharge for a certain time, and there were those that injured bots were placed in. The injured bot was simply placed inside, and they were repaired during recharge. _How_ they worked, he hadn't a clue. But he knew he had to find one if he was to keep his human alive. He looked down at Sarah, who didn't respond to his order. He had to do something. “Uh... how old are you?”

 

For a moment, she did nothing. “...eighteen...” she wheezed quietly.

 

“Good, good...” he looked over the intact stasis pods, growing aggravated when he couldn't find the healers. He _knew_ they were here! He'd been in them enough. “... what's your full name?” for a few seconds, she didn't reply. “Answer me.” the seeker growled. He had found the pods he needed, but most of them were broken. The glass casings were either cracked or shattered, so they were useless. Sarah was running out of time.

 

“...Sarah... Miler... Scabrous...” she whispered.

 

He didn't catch a word she said, but at least she was trying to stay awake. “Uh... fine name.” the seeker said, looking around for a Primus forsaken stasis pod- oh... there was one. “Finally...” he sighed, rushing toward the safe pod. All in all, he knew there were five hundred stasis pods, about a fifth of them worked, and about a tenth of that fifth were healer pods. He was lucky he had such a fine memory. He opened the pod, and looked down at the human in his claws. She had closed her eyes yet again. He growled. “Talk to me, female. I will _not_ let you rest.”

 

Sarah groaned, and looked at the seeker with the best glare her tired eyes could. “shuddup...”

 

“How about no?” he couldn't help but crack a joke, despite the irate look she tried to give him. “What's your...hmm... sign?” he asked, turning on the pod. It needed to warm up in order for it to function. It hadn't been used in decades. For some reason, human ideas about the stars and planets was interesting. As far fetched and primitive as the system was, it didn't hurt to ask.

 

“...th' hell...?” the teen mumbled from his hand. “...canzer...”

 

He had to smirk at that. The crab... crabby fit her overall mood perfectly. “That explains a lot, eh?” she did nothing. “Sarah, don't fall asleep.” he said lowly, voice taking on a sing-song tone. She coughed quietly, with no blood this time. The pod hummed to life, ready for use.

 

“Ah, you _are_ awake. Good, I have more questions...” Starscream said, slowly lowering her into the pod. When in it, she looked incredibly small, and extremely tired... and probably in need of a pillow. “Huh...” no time to fawn over the injured human, he had to set the dimensions for the pod so it wouldn't accidentally seal her joints shut or freeze dry her. “Uh... what is your favorite... uh... color?” the magenta seeker actually felt some relief to see her look up at him like he was insane.

 

“...tur...quoise...” had she the energy, she'd have yelled at him to shut the hell up so she could sleep. Despite his frequent tapping to set the pod to heal her, he'd glance at her without pause, seeming to relax now that she was closer to recovery.

 

“Wonderful.” Starscream muttered, putting in the last line of code. The pod would activate soon, he just had to shut the glass top and press a few buttons. “One more question, then you can rest.” the seeker said, smirking slightly. “What is your favorite Earth song?” he didn't see the harm in asking her one more.

 

“s'call...Demon Har... L'ca Trllee...” she closed her eyes, and Starscream lowered the top part of the healer pod. It closed, sealing up like a mason jar.

 

“Here we go...” the seeker pressed a few buttons, and the pod filled with steam, coating the glass interior. He saw Sarah jolt when the pod started to fill, her tired, and slightly frightened gaze shifting his way. The seeker had to smile just a little as her eyes closed and the glass frosted over. He had programmed the pod to place her body in some sort of false hibernation. It would filter oxygen, manage anything that exited her body, alert him if anything dire were to happen... he froze. What if the pod didn't work on humans?

 

“Oh, slag.” he mumbled, sitting by the pod. He had to calm down, had to think logically. She wasn't hurt _that_ bad. No, no, she _was_ , she was coughing up _blood_ for sparks sake! She had stayed awake for all his questions, but her answers were terribly slurred! Brain damage, spinal cord injury, paralysis, all were possibilities! Would her legs work? Would she be able to see? What if she died in the pod? Starscream, fear creeping back into his mind, did the only thing he could think of to shut off his brain.

 

The seeker reached into a gap in his neck armor, and pressed a certain circuit breaker. He whirred, and fell over with a shaking thump. Starscream had forced himself into recharge. It wasn't very good for one with as limited medical training as he to do that manually, but it was this or end up having a panic attack and possible processor crash. If his processor were to crash, he might not stir for a long time. In this case, he may crash, and wake up to find Sarah had healed, woken, and offlined in the tank because he'd worked himself into a frenzy. He'd pick manual recharge override any day.

 


	17. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole you absolute toenail. Nell is scared of... something?

Chapter Seventeen: Flowers.

 

_A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. ~Walt Whitman_

 

**X**

 

Blurr, the bright blue speedster of the Elite Guard, had made a full recovery. It took a few days, due to the key not working on him, and he was making sure everybody knew that he was okay. Despite the fact that Ratchet had warned him not to get up, Blurr made it his mission to stand up, run around, and talk everyone to death. He was doing an excellent job in doing so. Or, he would be if he could find someone to talk to.

 

The jet twins couldn't understand him, so, they combined and flew away, going off to do who knew what. Sentinel covered his audios and went 'la la la la!' until he reached his room on the ship, locking Blurr out. Optimus could not be found, nor could Bee or Bulkhead, so, Blurr went with his next favorite thing after talking. Doing spitfire donuts in the plant parking lot. It was a big lot, so that meant big donuts.

 

Big donuts made Blurr a very happy bot, and he made sure that everyone in hearing range, be it the Elite Guard on their ship, or the chickadees on the electrical wires high above, know about it. “WHEE!” he called happily to the world. It had been far too long since he had done this! The crazy spinning went on for about ten minutes before he had to take a breather. Blurr was far from tired, but he very dizzy. “Gah-okay-now-I-need-a-break.” he mumbled, transforming before plopping himself to the pavement. He had just gotten out of the medbay, he wasn't about to head back in.

 

Ratchet poked his head out from the plant, pointing a wrench at the panting blue bot in warning. “You go and wreck yourself, I'm welding you to the rafters by yer skid plate and inviting the jet twins to go at you like yer some sorta crazy pinata, ya hear me?!” the medic snapped, ducking back in. Blurr blinked, still panting. He had learned to listen to the medics. When they threatened you, they fragging meant it. It couldn't hurt to mellow out for a moment, right?

 

A black and gold streak came from the roof, and in front of Blurr landed Prowl. He looked at the speedster, and nodded in greeting. “Hello, Blurr.” he said curtly, walking to the gate. There was no rush to head out. He could take his time. Getting there was fun, knowing all the trees and birds he would no doubt see along the way.

 

Finally, someone to talk at! “Hey-there-ninja-bot-I'm-just-wondering-but-are-heading-some-where-because-you-sure-look-like-it!” Blurr asked, cocking his head. The black bot whirred quietly.

 

“Ah... yes. I'm going to visit Nell. I often do in the afternoons.” he got the sudden feeling, from the huge grin the blue bot had, that he was about to suffer another 'glomp'. One was enough for his lifetime. Thankfully, instead of a 'glomp', Prowl got an audio full of Blurr's speedy voice. Oh, joy. Nothing better than that.

 

“Oh-Primus-you-know-where-Nell-lives-can-I-come-with-you-I-need-to-talk-to-her-and-if-you-say-no-I-completely-understand-I-mean-I-burned-her-even-though-I-didn't-mean-it-but-she-may-not-want-to-see-me-after-all-that-happened!” the bouncing blue bot said, grinning at the ninja bot. “So-do-you-think-she'd-be-okay-with-seeing-me-or-what?”

 

Prowl, the infinite well of patience and carefully placed commentary, smiled faintly at the bot. “I don't see the harm.”

 

“WHEE!” the bot called happily, spinning insanely on one of his feet. Prowl chirruped, visor wide. Why did he say yes to the hyper bot? Blurr stopped on a dime, facing the plant door, hands at either side of his mouth. “Hey-Ratchet-I'm-going-with-Prowl-to-give-Nell-a-thank-you-and-maybe-even-a-hug-so-if-anyone-needs-me-I'll-be-there!” he yelled, before transforming and shooting out of sight.

 

For a moment, the ninja bot stood there. “Wait for it...” Prowl said to himself, hands behind his back. A minute later, the spiky blue speedster was back in front of him, smiling shyly.

 

“Okay-maybe-I-should-have-asked-you-where-she-lives-or-better-yet-why-don't-I-just-follow-you!” Blurr circled the ever calm ninja bot a few times before transforming. Prowl sighed, and headed for Nell's home, the speed demon following impatiently behind him.

 

**X**

 

“Mattie, I _really_ think you should wear a helmet for this...” Cole said as his sister climbed onto the mare. This was the third time Nell had tried to ride the 'bribe' called Rosanne, and if she got thrown off again, the teen was tying her legs together.

 

“I don't like helmets. Spurs, I'll do, but I don't do helmets.” the woman said, gripping the reigns tight. She didn't see the point in arguing with him about her name anymore. So, Nell just let him call her Mattie. She didn't like it a bit, but arguing never got her anywhere with him.

 

Cole blinked and frowned, arms crossed. “Spurs won't protect you from cracking your head open.”

 

The short human sighed. “They do when you use them the right way.” with that said, she kicked Roxane in the ribs, sending the beast into motion. “Yeehaw!”

 

“Mattie! You're gonna give me a heart attack! Get back here and put on a damn helmet!” the teen yelled, screaming at his sister. Why didn't she ever listen to him? “Oh god, don't let her get brain damage.” he said, jogging to the direction of the rampaging horse.

 

Nell was used to breaking horses. It was in her job. She knew very well what she was doing, and Cole screaming about a helmet didn't get her attention. “Come on, you. Show me what you're made of.” she said as the mare made a hair pin turn. Nell had tried to get a saddle on the young Mustang, but after almost getting her neck broken, she decided to go bareback. Some horses were simply better with bareback than saddle. Roxane made another turn, kicking her back legs, sending Nell backward. “That a girl! Keep trying, it ain't gonna happen!”

 

“Mattie! Get off that crazy thing!” Cole called from the fence while trying to catch his breath.

 

“Whee!” the woman called out. The mare continued to buck and spin, but Nell held on. She heard what sounded like a motorcycle, and looked around. Upon seeing Prowl and... some blue car, she kicked Roxane, sending the horse toward the fence. Nell wasn't about to have her jeans ripped on the wires. “Abort! Abort!” she yelled, diving off the horse and away from the fence. She landed on her back, rolling to easy the impact. “Whoo! Hey Prowl!” she said, sitting up. The ninja bot had transformed, along with the blue bot, and the two were making their way over the fence when she jumped.

 

“Holy-Primus-does-she-do-this-all-the-time?” Blurr asked the dark bot next to him.

 

Prowl beeped. “Apparently so. Hello, Nell.” he said, bending down a bit to help her to her feet.

 

“Thanks.” Nell said, taking the bots hand to get to her feet. She blinked, and looked at Blurr. “...I know you. I know I do...” she said, snapping her fingers to try and remember his name. He crashed into her field and she couldn't remember his name!

 

“The-name's-Blurr.” he said rather proudly, pointing at himself with his thumb.

 

“Oh right. Hey Blurr, how are you doing?” she said, not sure how

 

“Can-I-hug-you?” Blurr asked. Nell blinked, head cocked.

 

“Uh... yes? EEP!” she was lifted off the ground, and was given a very enthusiastic, and yet careful, hug from Blurr.

 

“I-never-got-to-give-you-a- _real_ -thank-you-for-finding-me-out-in-your-field-and-I-am-so-sorry-that-I-set-your-trees-on-fire-and-that-I- _burned_ -you-I-really-didn't-mean-it-but-I-had-no-control-over-my-landing-but-anyway-I-just-wanted-to-say-THANK-YOU-NELL!” Blurr said. He spun the entire time he was talking, and he set Nell down, grinning at the dizzy, and confused, human. “So-tell-me-how-are-your-burns-doing?” he said, hands on knees.

 

She shook her head, and looked up at him, smiling. “Uh...I'm good. Got bandaged up when I got here.” she said shyly, not too sure why he was thanking _her_. She'd only placed the call, Ratchet and Sari fixed him. “Huh?” she leaned past the blue bot upon seeing a cloud of dust coming their way. “Prowl... I think you got followed.” she said, pointing.

 

The ninja bot beeped, and turned around, looking at the small, yellow dot that was coming down the driveway. “You're right... but who would...” the ninja bot's visor widened upon seeing the bright yellow paint job hurtling at them. “Oh my...” the little yellow compact unfolded into Bumblebee, who looked more than happy to be there.

 

“Hey, Cole!” he said, waving. Cole smiled, and waved back.

 

“Bumblebee, why are you out here?” Prowl asked in a clipped tone, hands on hips.

 

“I followed you, duh.” the yellow bot said, smirking.

 

“Yes, but _why_ did you follow us?” the rather annoyed ninja bot asked.

 

Bumblebee shrugged. “I wanted to talk to Blurr, but you abducted him and brought him out here with all the nature and... stuff.” he said. Blurr beeped, and looked at the yellow bot with a smile. “I mean, how can you find any of this to be interesting? Like... that bush!” he said, pointing. “How is this interesting?” he then proceeded to investigate the bush.

 

Cole spoke up, pointing at the ninja bot. “I knew you abducted people!”

 

“Ugh... Blurr came here on his own. He _asked_ me to bring him along.” he explained, but Bumblebee was busy trying to show how boring a bush was. “He's not even paying attention.” the bot mumbled, frowning.

 

After a lot of rustling, the yellow bot spoke up. “Hey guys, look!” Bumblebee called from a bush. The group turned to see the yellow bot with what looked like a massive worm on his head. It curled around a horn, making its way down to his face plate. “I made a friend!” he said, pointing to the creature, grinning brightly.

 

Cole blinked, and pointed. “...what the hell is that?”

 

Nell smiled. “It's a millipede.”

 

The blond blinked, thin eyebrow raised. “...a what now?”

 

Prowl cocked his head slightly. “It's a millipede. Not a very big one, though. It seems to be enjoying its new... perch.” the ninja bot said, hands on hips. He'd seen many creatures up close, but a millipede, as common a creature as it was, had somehow alluded him. Blurr streaked by the ninja bot, looking at the creepy crawly on the fellow bot's helm.

 

“Wow-Bumblebee-that-little-guy-really-seems-to-like-you!” Blurr said, smiling. “Wow-look-at-all-the-legs-it-has-I-mean-there-has-to-be-about-a-thousand-on-that-little-guy!” the bot clasped his hands to his knees, frowning. He looked confused. “Wow-it's-doing-the-wave-all-by-itself-that-is-so-cool!” he grinned at Bumblebee, who smiled back as the millipede circled one of his horns.

 

Cole leaned toward Nell. “You got any idea what the hell he's saying?”

 

The woman crossed her arms, smirking. “No, not really.” she blinked. “He's sure fun to watch, though.”

 

Blurr spoke up again, bouncing slightly. “Have-you- _seen_ -how-this-thing-moves-it-is-so-weird-I-love-it!”

 

Cole grinned. “You wanna know what _else_ is weird? Look at this.” he said. Prowl looked at the teen and the woman. The blond grabbed Nell's arm, holding up her hand. Nell made a surprised grunt, then tried to protest by pulling away. Cole held up his free hand, and pressed it to Nell's. “Our hands are the same size! Isn't that weird?”

 

Prowl beeped. They're hands _were_ the same size. He'd never noticed, or really cared. The bot didn't find it weird at all.

 

Nell blanched, eyes wide. “Cole...! W-would you stop it!” she yelled, yanking her hand free. She turned her back on him. Prowl cocked his head. Cole looked at Prowl, grinned wickedly, and turned his back to Nell, getting down low so his shoulder's met with hers. Nell jumped when she felt Cole press onto her back. “Said stop it!” she snapped, wheeling on him.

 

The teen merely grinned. “Our shoulders are the same, too!”

 

“You aren't exactly a linebacker, Cole!” Nell yelled, voice deepening a little. Prowl chirruped, head cocked and visor flattened at the top.

 

“And _you_ aren't exactly a midget, _Mattie_.” he said in an almost sneering voice.

 

“Don't start with me, _Cole_.” Nell growled, not feeling too comfortable with the three sets of optics fixated on her. She did _not_ like being stared at.

 

The yellow bot made a sniffing noise, and his optics grew huge. “GYAHOW! Primus on a fragging _pogo stick!_ ” he grabbed the millipede on the word 'stick', and chucked it about twenty feet away. He then swiped at his face, making hissing noises. “Ew! No! Nonononono! I can't believe it, EW!” Nell blinked, mouth small and eyes big. Cole giggled, covering his mouth. Blurr chirruped loudly, blinking in confusion. Prowl frowned displeasedly, arms crossed.

 

“Bumblebee, how could you do that?” the ninja bot asked, giving the frantic yellow bot the 'stare of death', as it had been dubbed several years ago by a young Sari.

 

“Easy, nature boy! I _grabbed_ it and then I _threw_ it!” Bumblebee said, glaring sourly at the bot.

 

Nell looked from one bot to the other, frowning at the two. She looked at where she thought the creepy crawly had landed, and crept forward, getting on all fours to find it easier. As she picked her way through the grass, the two bots continued to argue.

 

“Hey, you got mad that time a bird pooped on you! Remember that, oh mighty ninja bot?”

 

“At least I didn't injure, or more likely, _kill_ an innocent cre-”

 

“...Wiggles is fine!” Nell said from her place in the grass, giving the thumbs up. The little brown millipede had curled into a ball when Bumblebee had thrown him. The natural reaction was probably what saved his many legged life. Blurr, seeing Nell had moved, went to her side to see said creature.

 

“Yep!” he chirped, looking at the wiggly creature that was uncurling in the humans hand. “It-seems-that-the-little-creature-survived-the-impact-no-thanks-to- _you_ -my-yellow-friend!” Blurr said, pointing at the yellow bot who threw the weird creature. “I-mean-why-would-anyone-throw-the-little-guy-he-didn't-hurt-anything-now-did-he?” the blue bot said, hands on his hips, frowning.

 

“Hey, Blurr, newsflash! It _pooped_ on me!” Bumblebee shouted back, shaking a fist at the speed demon.

 

“Yeah-thanks-for-telling-us-we-didn't-hear-you-the- _first_ -seven-times!” Blurr called, pointing at him.

 

Prowl couldn't help but 'face-palm', as humans called it, at the younger bot's comment. “It didn't mean to defecate on you, Bumblebee. It's a natural function of all things organic.” from behind him, Cole put his hands over his mouth, and blew, making a very loud fart noise. Prowl chirruped, and turned to the young male. “Do you _mind?_ ” he asked crossly, visor pinched in the center out of rigid annoyance. For some reason, 'fart noises' really got to him.

 

The teen looked away, acting like nothing happened. Nell shook her head, and looked at Blurr, moving her hands in front of each other again and again to keep 'Mister Wiggles' from plummeting to the ground a second time. “Everybody poops. Uh... Blurr?”

 

He looked at her, blinking. “Whatcha-need-Nell?” he asked, smiling at the small female.

 

“Can you distract my brother for a few minutes? Or... as long as you can handle him?” she knew that Cole could be a hand full, but she got the feeling that Blurr could handle him for at least a couple of minutes. She wanted to show Prowl something, and get the millipede to a safer place than where a bunch of bot feet could squish him.

 

The bot smiled, nodding rapidly. “Oh-sure-it's-no-problem-not-like-he-could-wear-me-out-or-anything-you-know.” he saluted her, grinning happily at her nervous grin. “You-can-count-on-me!” with that, he streaked forward, snatching the blond human up and running out of sight. “Catch-us-if-you-can-Bumblebee-but-somehow-I-don't-think-you-can!” he called loudly, darting into the woods, a screaming Cole under one arm.

 

“Hey!” the yellow bot said, transforming to catch up with the two. Prowl beeped, and looked at Nell, who was grinning at the freaky creature climbing up her arm. It made its way to her hair, before she plucked it off and let it curl into a ball.

 

“Don't go climbing in my hair. You'll get stuck.” she covered the creature with her free hand, and called over her shoulder. “Roxane! Hey! Hey!” the mare looked up from her place in the grass, ears forward, statue still. Nell clicked her tongue, and the horse turned and ran, kicking her back legs as she darted out of sight. “Gah, screw it. She'll come to the barn when dinner rolls around.” she muttered to herself.

 

Prowl chirruped. “Are you sure it's wise to let her roam free? She _is_ wearing a halter.”

 

Nell shrugged. “She'll be fine. Nothing for her to get caught on.” the human walked toward the stable, motioning for him to follow her. “Well? Come on. I want to show you something...”

 

**X**

 

“Go free, Mister Wiggles.” Nell said quietly, watching the little creature crawl out of sight in the tall grass. Prowl watched her, whirring quietly. “Try to avoid any yellow bots, k?” she said, standing up. The creature crept out of sight, the short human smiling as it did so.

 

Prowl smiled, cocking his head slightly. “What is it you wanted to show me?”

 

“This.” she said quietly, going around to the back of the barn. There was a huge tree, covered in huge white flowers and lush leaves. “Magnolia.” she said, hiding her hand within the shining leaves. “It was here when I bought the place. I love the flowers, and it was already kinda big when I found it.” she turned to him, smiling brightly. “Like I'd have the nerve to get rid of it.”

 

Prowl smiled at her. “I would be surprised.”

 

Nell gave him a rather shy smile, and looked upwards for a minute or so. “This... is a weird question to ask you, but...” she looked at him, giving him her lopsided smile. “...do you, uh, have a favorite flower?”

 

Prowl thought for a moment, then nodded. “I do, actually. You call them Lilly of the Valley. I find them to be quite... nice.” he said quietly.

 

She smiled. “I know that flower. They're poisonous, but pretty.”

 

He nodded, smiling slightly. “Yes... that's why they're my favorite.”

 

“I _knew_ you were gay!” a voice called from the trees. Prowl turned sharply to the voice, shurikens drawn. It was rare for him to be startled, let alone by a human. From behind a bush, Cole stood up, hand raised in mock surrender, a twig in his hair. “Cool it, ninja.” the teen muttered, looking over at his sister. His expression went from annoyed to angry in a second. “What did you _do?_ ”

 

Prowl frowned, pulling back a bit. “I did...” he chirruped at the way Nell looked. Her amber eyes were wide and far away, her body drawn up like a frightened bird ready for flight. “...nothing. Nell?” she twitched at her name, shoulders going back to the normal, lax position. Cole had been right, he had done something... but _what_ did he do exactly?

 

“ung... yeah?” the human said, looking at him before shaking her head.

 

From the trees, a familiar yellow bot popped up, pointing at Cole. “Dude! You're supposed to find me.” upon seeing Cole glaring at the ninja bot, he blinked. “Whoa man, don't try and stare down a ninja. You won't win.” he said, but the blond continued to glare. “Suit yourself.”

 

Blurr popped up from the darkness of the trees, picking his way into the open, looking at the group with a confused face. “Uh... Are-we-done-playing-because-I-didn't-get-a-turn.” when he got no response, he shrugged, and looked at Nell. “Okay-do-you-guys-wanna-play-a-new-game-or-”

 

Cole growled. “I think... I'm done for today.” he then walked between the ninja and human, making sure that Prowl saw his glare.

 

“Uh... m-maybe you should go, Prowl.” Nell mumbled, ruffling her hair nervously.

 

Prowl beeped at her. “May... I ask why?” the ninja bot asked quietly, cocking his head with a chirrup.

 

The woman nodded, mouth crooked. “... I'm gonna run that kid's ass out on a rail, and I don't want you to see my mean side.” she said, smirking. He could tell in a second that the look was fake. She was still scared of something...

 

“Somehow, I doubt that you have a 'mean side', Nell.” he said, mouth a flat line. “But, if you insist...” he muttered, walking away.

 

“Heh... trust me Prowl, I'm not all sunshine and farts. See you Saturday!” she said, waving. Prowl nodded, and transformed, heading through the grass to the driveway, peeling out of sight. Blurr waved at the two humans, then hit the road. Bumblebee shouted at them, and went after the two.

 

As Prowl and the two speedsters drove back to the plant, he thought to himself about Nell's moment of panic. For a second, she looked terrified of him. What had he done to scare her? Nell wasn't afraid of him, he knew that. She couldn't be, it made no sense. He had done nothing to make her fear for her life, right? When he thought about it, he couldn't believe he had missed it. Nell had been frightened by his shurikens. His only other question was why they frightened her. He'd have to remember not to pull them out around Nell if he could help it. He didn't want to scare his friend away.

 


	18. Awake

Chapter Eighteen: Awake

 

_Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking. ~ Black Elk._

 

**X**

 

Starscream had never been seen as the caring type. He had always watched his own back, not to mention his wings. For some reason, those were aimed for a lot during battle. The more damage done to his wings, the angrier he would get in battle. The seeker may have been godly in the air, but that didn't mean he couldn't hold himself in hand to hand combat. He was second in command for a reason. Or, at least he had been...

 

Right now, the seeker was sitting on the floor, one leg over the other, sifting through well over a dozen data pads. Sarah was in her healer pod, lying there like a lump, hardly moving, hardly breathing, and to him, hardly there. Sarah had been in that pod for about nine days, sixteen hours, twenty-eight minutes, and twelve seconds. Not that he was _counting_ , but... okay, fine. He _was_ counting. That was a while to go without much happening. No one to talk to after having someone there was kind of... unnerving for him. He sure didn't see any progress. The seeker kept himself busy, though. Just because he was hovering over Sarah most of the time didn't mean he was obsessed. No, not at all.

 

The seeker had set up a bit of a camp out next to the pod. He wasn't about to leave her alone for too long. He knew that she would wake up any moment. The magenta seeker wasn't about to leave her alone for too long. Not after what had happened. He knew his clones were still out there. Not all of them were dangerous, exactly, but he wasn't sure how it would be if they decided to come back to the Moon. He'd deal with them as he had dealt with the liar clone if they decided to go near Sarah. No one touched his human.

 

**X**

 

A few days ago, at least he _thought_ it was a few days ago, something happened within the pod. Starscream hadn't been aware of what it was until the monitor beeped like wild. The readings showed that the female's heart rate had increased, as had her adrenaline levels. Even though the glass dome had frosted over, he could see Sarah roll around in the pod. She kicked her legs, thrashed her arms, screamed... he thought it was a seizure. No... not a seizure. He did research on human medical conditions. Crossing your legs and begging for mercy did not fit the criteria, and neither did sobbing like the world was falling down.

 

It was a nightmare Sarah was having. Probably some bad memory brought up by the lack of mental stimuli. Either way, his human felt she was under threat, and was making enough of a racket that he could hear it from outside. Starscream had tapped on the tank to try and wake her up, palm flat on the massive dome and fingers splayed. He had to let her know she wasn't alone, had to let her know she was safe. After much tapping and scratching, he saw the colors that were Sarah's limbs stop, dropping to the floor of the pod. Blinking in confusion, the seeker pulled his hand away. He found himself staring at Sarah, her pierced face unobstructed by frost or hair. The heat of his palm must have melted the frost.

 

“...Sarah.” the seeker mumbled, raking the tips of his claws over the clear patch of glass. Her eyes were half open and glassy. The blood on her chin and neck was practically gone, and she hardly noticed him, giving a slow blink. Starscream _had_ to make her look. Had to make her see that it was _him_ who woke her. He had freed her from that nightmare.

 

“Can you see me, Sarah? Don't you know I'm still out here?” he mumbled, mouth half open, optics dark, brows raised slightly. The human turned her head his way, making eye contact. “Come on, do something, do anything, _see_ me! You _have_ to see me!” the seeker said in a half growl, claws scraping the dome. He mumbled almost silently, teeth clenched tightly. “Please... see me... I'm looking right at you. Are you blind, Sarah? Don't tell me that you've gone blind in there...” Sarah blinked, her breathing coming out in short puffs of steam. Then she smiled at him. Sarah had actually _smiled_ at _him_. That meant her vision was fine. What else could she be smiling at if not him? “Hello, Sarah.” the relieved seeker said, grinning back at her. The glass was frosting over, and soon, the thin female was gone from the world yet again.

 

Sarah was fine. The nightmare was gone. Starscream could relax.

 

**X**

 

When he wasn't not-fawning over his human, Starscream was researching what she had said about herself. In doing so, she had given him much to look into. His findings were quite interesting.

 

Turquoise, he had learned, was a type of stone that was popular for human jewelry, and was a common, yet rather lovely stone. He himself wasn't a fan of it's color, seeing it matched the very optics of Autobot scum. After a few moments of growling, he searched further. He found the darker shades to be less dainty than the paler variety. The seeker searched further.

 

Sarah was born under the human astrological sign Cancer. He had thought it was funny that she was given the sign that was such a temperamental creature as the crab. The further he looked into it, the funnier it got. Cancer was a water sign, what ever that meant. It was a cardinal sign, which he later learned had something to do with Earthen seasons. The part he had found almost insanely ironic was that Cancer was ruled by the Moon. Starscream had a good laugh about that.

 

He then looked up what Sarah had called her favorite song. 'Demon Heart' by some human named Luca Turilli. He decided, having nothing better to do, it was worth a look. The song was under the genre style 'Symphonic Metal', and he was almost immediately against the song. Two conflicting words, symphonic, meaning beautiful and complicated, and metal, a loud, angry, screams-and-drums filled attempt at music. How could the two _possibly_ work in harmony?

 

After an hour or so of searching, and seeing 'Demon Heart' had been covered several times over the seventy years it had existed, he found the original. The first time he heard the song, he hated it, closed down the link, and tried to forget he had ever heard it. Then, _just_ to make sure he hated it, he listened to it again... and again... and again. By the tenth or twelfth time -he had lost count- Starscream heard the song, he had it memorized and added to his personal list of favorite songs. It had also wormed its way into his processor like a retro virus from an old time pleasure bot.

 

“Tragedy storms him when demons spare her life, and...” the seeker picked up a data pad, glancing it over. “...hmm, I've read this one...” he grumbled, tossing the pad over his shoulder. He continued to sift through the pile, frowning as he continued the song. He wasn't singing it, per se, but he had the song 'Demon Heart' stuck in his head, and he felt that he had to say the words aloud. “...all discover, she has a demon heart. _Demon_ _ **heart!**_ ” he picked up a data pad, reading a few lines. “Hmm... this one's new...” the seeker crossed one leg over the other, reading the pad, one hand perched on the healing pod.

 

Although Sarah's nightmares hadn't returned after the first time, the seeker wasn't about to let her go through it all again. He had kept one hand on the glass, so that the next time, whenever that time would be, he could wake her. Starscream had a habit of raking his claws across anything they rested against. The seeker had made four grooves in the thick glass over the short period of time. He didn't seem to notice, and Sarah sure didn't complain. Part of him wished she would.

 

Even though his constant vigil gave him something to do, Starscream was never far from one of his greatest foes; Boredom. This was easy to take care of, so long as he could hack into the empty rooms of the _Nemesis_. He had spent several hours searching through personal data pads. Blackarachnia's personal pads were... well, they were annoyingly angsty. He had often found the techno-organic femme attractive, but she had 'better things to do'. Better than him? How could _that_ be?

 

Blitzwing had three separate sets of data pads. One set for each personality. Triple changers were something he'd never understand, and he didn't really bother. The Icy personality had several pads, most of which were rather... boring. The Angry personality had very few, and most of the pads were hard to read. The _real_ fun came around when he got to the Random personality. Starscream hadn't a clue that the dagger mouthed cackle factory could _write_ , let alone make him laugh like a crazy old buzzard.

 

The seeker had, at one point, become so bored that he looked through _Lugnut's_ personal data pads. That had been… _more_ than a little disturbing. The bot had an unhealthy obsession with Megatron... but he didn't know how unhealthy until he had read about three lines of a 'recent' data pad. The seeker locked Lugnut's quarters. He changed the pass code by covering his optics and randomly punching a few numbers. The already unstable seeker then ripped off the code panel. He was never going in that room again, and neither was anyone else. _Ever_.

 

“Hahahaaa! Oh, Primus, Megatron _does_ have a bucket for a crown! Ha!” the seeker was laughing at one of Random Blitzwing's data pads. Anything that went after Megatron was funny to him. He continued reading the pad, when he heard a quiet beeping come from the healer pod. “Eh?” he lifted his hand from the dome, and looked down at the monitor. “Hmm... structural damage, fully repaired. Internal damage, fully repaired. Fluids, cleaned and filtered... how does that even work for you, my dear?” he muttered the last part, mouth crooked. “Are you ready to come out now?”

 

The pod hissed loudly, and steam poured out as the glass dome lifted, groaning slowly as it came away from the female. The seeker set down the data pad, and looked inside as the steam cleared. Sarah was lying there, on her back, in the same position he had put her in. She twitched one of her hands, but did nothing else. “Sarah?” Starscream asked, lips apart. “Sarah... can you hear me?” he asked quietly. The female didn't move for a moment. “Sarah. Female! Get up!” he snapped, frowning. She groaned, and rolled his way, eyes half open and fuzzy. His human was back. “Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?” the seeker said, head propped up on a curled fist.

 

“...what the hell happened?” she mumbled, blinking to clear her vision. Everything was so fuzzy. She felt like she'd been frozen... wait, had that been those thoughts about being inside a snow globe? It was starting to come back, but it was taking a while.

 

She didn't remember? How could she _not_ remember? She was nearly put offline by that unstable clone. The magenta seeker whirred. “One of my clones attacked you. I had to put you in a healer pod in order for you to survive.”

 

The female blinked, and sat up. She fell back with a thump, body weakened from not moving for so long. “..uh... he's dead, right?” she asked quietly, squinting at him.

 

Starscream smiled. “Yes, Sarah. That slagger is offline.” he couldn't help but grin at her as she tried to sit up again. As funny as it was to see her flop over, he had to stop it. “Here, female. Allow me.” he said a little too kindly before scooping her up.

 

“Whoa!” Sarah yelped, being lifted into the air. He looked down at her, smiling. It wasn't his 'normal' smile, though. He actually looked happy. That was new. “Thank you... uh... Lord Starscream.”

 

He merely shrugged, and walked out of the pod-filled room. Sarah looked up from the seekers hands, watching him. He was such a weird looking robot when she thought about it. Still, in a way, his odd build and rather vibrant color scheme seemed to fit together. A magenta chest and golden cockpit, now free of scratches and rips. His lower legs and arms were black, or almost black. She had almost laughed -her, laugh!- when she saw he had what looked like high heels for feet. The female looked at the thoughtful, half crazed, silver face, then past even that to look at his wings. His wings... “...what's it like to fly?”

 

He blinked, looking at her like she had asked him where sparklings came from. “What?”

 

“What's it like to fly? I've seen you do it, but what's it like? I mean, I've flown on a plane once, but it's gotta be different when you're actually flying.”

 

The seeker smirked. “It is amazingly different than flying on a craft. When you _are_ the craft, it's... hmm...” Starscream had to think about that one. How did he explain flight to a human? He set her in her tank -which he had kept spotless- and stooped to reach under the tank, pulling out a thick comforter. “Here, use this. You're too cold. Have to get your body heat up.” the seeker said, draping the thick, warm thing over her. Sarah pulled it around her cold body, shivering at the sudden warmth.

 

“Thank you... Lord Starscream.” she mumbled, curling into the warmth. She shifted as he looked her way. She hadn't a clue why, but she felt warm. Inside, she felt this strange kind of warmth...weird. She blinked, and sat cross-legged. “But, really... what's it like to fly?” she said with a cock of her head.

 

“Sarah... when you are flying, you aren't _just_ in the air, you _are_ the air. You are one with the sky, but at the same time, you aren't. It's like there is nothing that can stop you from the feeling of...” he thought about it for a moment to get the words right, and grinned when he found them. “Unstoppable freedom... Sarah... when you fly, the sky is _yours_.” he said, spreading his arms, chest out and giving this proud grin, fangs bared in all their imposing glory. Upon seeing the bewildered look his little human gave him, he placed his hands on his knees, leaning forward. “Would you like me to take you some time?”

 

The human blinked. “...really?” it seemed like it could be fun... but that it was just him screwing with her head. People did that for some reason. “You're... you're serious?” she said timidly.

 

“You seem so en _thralled_ with the idea, I don't see why not.” he smirked, then he remembered that she had almost been crushed by one of his more unstable clones. “But... maybe after I get your weight up, we'll go for a visit to your happy blue mud ball you called home, eh?” he said, caressing her scarily exposed collarbone with a warm and strangely delicate claw tip. Upon realizing what he had just done, that he had used such a... _caring_ and _tender_ gesture, Starscream did the very thing he did when he started acting strange. He wheeled on a thruster heel and made an overdone seeker-strut to his monitor screen, sitting with a stiff creak of his hips.

 

Sarah's hazel eyes nearly popped out of her head. The only real reaction she had to that insane seeker touching her that way was four simple and appropriate words. “...the fuck just happened?”

 

Starscream continued to type, back on the female. His long jaw was clenched tight, teeth gritting together to a point they squeaked if he moved a bit. He ignored Sarah's question, choosing to type mindlessly on the keys. He had no idea why he had touched her that way. The magenta seeker couldn't give her an answer, and he wouldn't give one to her even if he had one.

 

Suddenly, his optic twitched, and his jaw relaxed. He had an idea. The seeker grinned, fangs bared. Starscream spun in his chair, crimson optics glowing. “Lets make a deal, Sarah.” he said, claws laced to hold up his helm, elbows propped on knees.

 

The human peeked out from under the blanket. “...a deal?” she didn't like the way he said it.

 

“Yes, female, a deal.” he said, standing up, taking measured, careful steps toward the berth. He sat down, smirking at her as she wobbled and tipped over to try and look at him. “You'd like to go on a flight, right?”

 

The human blinked. “I would...”

 

“Well, then, we can make a fair trade.” he said, grinning. “ _I_ will take you on a flight, if _you_ sing a song.” upon Sarah

 

“You.... want me to sing?” Sarah asked, mouth agape. Was he insane? Oh... stupid question.

 

He grinned, but it didn't seem so crazy. “Yes, I do. Any song you want, of course.” he reached into the tank, and ran careful claw tips on her back. She stiffened, but he didn't really care. “But, for now, relax. Recharge, get back into a normal cycle, and we'll talk.” he pulled his claws away, and rose from the berth, walking out of sight. “And, think of a song while you're at it.” he said with a chuckle.

 

The female, despite being half comatose for over a week, laid down and covered herself completely with the comforter. She was tired, and she wasn't sure why. She wasn't hungry, and she didn't have to pee or... anything else. What had happened in that pod?

 

“..and all discover, she has a demon heart...” the female heard Starscream half-sing. She froze, eyes huge. “Demon heart!” Sarah curled into a ball, and tried to go to sleep. She was going to pretend that she never heard Lord Starscream sing that song. She was out like a light about three seconds later.

 


	19. Limits

Chapter Nineteen: Limits.

 

_A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood. - Proverb._

 

**X**

 

“Oh, but sister, you know I'm so weary... and you know my heart, my heart's been broken. Sometimes, my mind is just too strong...” Prowl stopped his singing to listen. He thought he had heard someone on the roof. It could have been the wind, even though he didn't hear wind. The ninja bot continued like nothing had occurred. “...to carry on. Too strong to carry on...” there it was again. Then, a thump. Then another. Someone was definitely on the roof. If Jazz was planning to 'glomp' him again, he'd-

 

“Shh! You want them to see us?”

 

“Cooling down, Bumblebee. We are being quiet!” that voice sounded familiar.

 

“Yeah! You are the one falling over!” that one did, too, familiar and Russian.

 

The ninja bot frowned, and leaped upwards, climbing up to the roof thanks to the tree. The leaves rustled, and he was through. He found two jets and a compact. He sighed. “Bumblebee, what are you three doing on the roof?” there was the yellow bot and the jet twins.

 

The twins said nothing, but Bumble bee shrugged. “Well, ninja bot, I'm not sure what the slag happened with _them_ ,” the yellow bot said, pointing down at the humans in the far corner of the plant lot. “But from what I heard, Cole and Nellie got all in each others faces with... I'm not sure, something about food.”

 

Prowl chirruped. “Strange.” a minute or so passed. Nell had her back to the bots, and Cole was in a corner of the chain link lot. They were hardly doing anything. He had brought the two of them to the base about an hour ago. The two seemed fine then. Now things were... off. The ninja bot sat, unsure of what to do other than that.

 

“We was there, Bumbles.” Jetstorm said.

 

“Ya! We saw the whole thing!” Jetfire said, nodding.

 

“That is why we are on roof!”

 

Bumblebee blinked, and Prowl chirruped. “Then what the slag happened?” the yellow bot said, optics wide. Prowl nodded, frowning.

 

“We will show you. Brother, you will be playing blond one, yes?” Jetstorm said, nodding.

 

Jetfire beeped. “Not wanting to play blond one. Blond one is mean to short one.”

 

“You look more like blond one than me, brother. You are younger brother, so it works.”

 

“No, _you_ are younger brother!”

 

“No, _you_ are being younger!”

 

“No, _you_ are being-”

 

Prowl sighed, and spoke up. “The sooner you two decide, the sooner Bumblebee and I will know.”

 

The jet twins looked at him, and then at each other. “Give me my sandwich, brother!” Jetstorm said in a funny voice, holding out one arm dramatically.

 

Jetfire pouted, then said, “No, Mattie!” he then put his hands together. “God is wanting thank you for giving you food. Thank him before you eat.” the one twin said in a poor imitation of Cole.

 

Jetstorm frowned, and crossed his arms. “No, Cole. I will _not_ be doing what I am _not_ believing.”

 

Jetfire gasped, and covered his mouth. “Why do you not believe, Mattie?”

 

Jetstorm gave an exaggerated sigh, and made a pouting face. “Why should I be believing in _lie?_ ”

 

Jetfire gasped again, optics and mouth huge. “It is _not_ lie!”

 

“Is so.”

 

“Is not!”

 

“Is _so!_ ”

 

“Is _not!_ ”

 

“Is-”

 

Bumblebee stopped the two, waving a hand dismissively. “Okay, okay, we get it. So, this all started because Nellie wanted her sandwich and Cole wanted her to pray for it?” the two nodded, then went back to watching the humans argue. Nell was poking Cole in the chest with a finger, and Cole batted her hand away, pointing at her like she had done some sort of unspeakable crime. “Something is _wrong_ with that guy.”

 

Prowl chirruped, looking back at the pair of humans below. Cole was now pointing at Nell, and Nell had her arms crossed. “That's... that's just _rude_. It's not his choice to make... or press.”

 

Bumblebee looked at the ninja bot, and shrugged. “Yeah, and Nellie _really_ ain't happy.” he said, pointing. “Word of warning, Prowl. Don't get between that woman and her food.” Nell had her arms raised, then smacked herself in the forehead when Cole held up some sort of necklace.

 

Jetstorm blinked. “Brother, what is that thing for?”

 

Jetfire shrugged. “Not sure, Brother, but short one is not liking it being waved at her.”

 

Prowl beeped, and looked up what it could be. “Hmm... from what I gather, it's a rosary.”

 

The three bots looked at him, confused. The jet twins looked at each other, then asked the ninja bot in unison, “What is a rosary?”

 

The ninja bot frowned, and looked down at the two humans yelling at each other. “A rosary is a necklace made of sacred beads and medallions used for prayer, typically worn by humans who believe in someone called Mary, who was a virgin, who gave birth to a man named Jesus Christ, that is claimed to be the son of God.” Prowl said, then chirruped loudly at what he had said. “Human religion is very complicated.” he stated flatly.

 

Bumblebee snorted. “You're telling me. Why would a human need a piece of jewelry to show that they believe? It sounds silly to me.” he said, looking at the humans again. His smirk turned into a surprised frown. “...uh oh, not good.”

 

The jet twins and the ninja bot looked at him. “What?” Prowl asked, looking at the humans that the yellow bot was pointing to.

 

Nell was pointing at the blond, said blond shrugging and looking to the sky as if asking for help. Cole had the rosary wrapped around his hand, now showing Nell a cross. Nell shook her head, ruffling her hair. “Know you're not into spying, ninja boy,” Bumblebee said, putting a finger to an audio, motioning for the jets twins to do so too, “...but you're gonna wanna hear this.”

 

Prowl beeped, and, after a moment of debating if it was invading privacy or not, listened in.

 

**X**

 

Nell snorted, and said in a fast and deadpan voice, “Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. I know all of it! I was force fed that crap for most of my life, long before you came along. I can't believe anyone with a working brain would believe that!”

 

“Oh, what, so I'm stupid because I believe in God?”

 

“Cole, if you knew anything about the bible, you'd see all the contradictions I did.” Nell said, putting a fist to her chest.

 

Cole shook his head. “I _have_ read it, cover to cover, old _and_ new testament. You're right, it has a lot of them, but I don't believe everything it says.”

 

Nell sighed, smacking her forehead. “So, you're a selective believer, eh? You believe that God hates it when you lie, but if you're gay, oh, wow, he's just fine with it! The hell are you thinking? He doesn't want us!”

 

Cole winced, holding his rosary. “I don't think God punishes people for what they are, but what they do. Things are never black and white, you know that!”

 

“It says 'men shall not lust men' right there in black and white! Isn't that doing something? That is what mom forced on us! If He existed, then he doesn't _want_ us! If He loved us, why would he make us to be different when he doesn't like it? How can you think there is a just and loving god when people like you and me get attacked? What can you give as proof that there is anything?” Nell sounded about ready to cry, and Cole looked it, but he frowned, and crossed his arms.

 

“How can _you_ believe there is nothing, Mattie? What proof do _you_ have?”

 

Nell froze, fists shaking, shoulders hunched. “Proof, eh? Y-you want proof? Ah, okay, I'll give you proof.” she grumbled, and seemed to undo her fly. She grabbed the right side of her jeans, and tugged downward. “Do you see this?”

 

Cole winced, holding up his hand to hide whatever it is he was seeing. “Mattie... I-I don't want-”

 

“You _wanted_ to make me believe in someone who would let _this_ happen? Well, here's me showing you there's no one up there.”

 

Cole glared at her. “That's _not_ what I meant. I don't want to see those.” he mumbled, shaking his head.

 

Nell's voice cracked, seeming to deepen. “You want proof, brother, now look.” when Cole made a face, Nell took a step forward. “ _Look_.” Cole did, looking at his sister like she had kicked a puppy. “This is what happens to people like me, Cole. This is what happens, when a narrow minded man in a bar sees what I am. He didn't like it, not one bit. He made that clear when he pinned me to a wall and tried to _'fix'_ me! You want proof? I _am_ proof!” by now Nell sounded like she was crying, and Cole had his rosary held so tight that it left red marks on his hand. Nell turned around, and walked, stiff legged and red faced toward the plant, wiping her cheeks.

 

**X**

 

The four bots on the roof sat still, utterly confused and worried. Bumblebee spoke up first, making an uncomfortable grunting sound. “Uh... well, now I know not to get in a religious argument with a human.” he then stood up, looking at the human still standing in the parking lot. “...especially not Nellie.”

 

Jetfire looked at his twin, optics huge. “...does short one thinks she is an error, brother?”

 

The blue twin shrugged, frowning. “Short one isn't error to me or you, brother.”

 

“Maybe she thinks that having a god's an error, who knows?” Bumblebee mumbled, trying to climb off the roof. He grunted as he tried to get down. “Either way, I'm not gonna be the one to talk to her about it. Let someone who knows what they're doing handle the raging midget.”

 

Prowl whirred, looking at the two jets and single bot with a mild frown. He looked down at the young male human still in the lot, and hopped off the roof. He walked carefully toward the teen in the lot. Something told him to leave Nell alone for now. He had no idea how to handle a human that was that upset. The ninja bot would deal with Cole. He stopped a few feet behind the teen, and got to one knee. “Cole, what happened?”

 

The teen had his back on the building and bot, most of him shadowed. “Go... away... ninja.” he ground out, gripping the rusted chain link like a lifeline.

 

“No, we need to talk about this. Nell is obviously upset, as are you. What happened?”

 

Cole drew in a sharp breath, and slammed his palms hard on the gate, making it rattle. “You should know, stupid ass spy bot.”

 

Spy bot? Oh, so he _had_ seen the bots on the roof. “I wasn't spying. I heard someone on the roof, and when I went to see what was going on, I found you and Nell arguing in the lot.”

 

A snort. “Right, right, you care, wow. I have _never_ heard that one before.” he said with heavy sarcasm.

 

Seeing that the angry young man wasn't going to answer that question, he tried another. “Cole, why do you not approve of Nell and I being friends?” the teen glared at him, but Prowl remained still. “I'm not asking you to like me or even tolerate me. I only want to know your reasoning. Did I do something wrong?”

 

“Bite me, ninja bot,” Cole snarled, free hand gripping the rusted chain link, other squeezing the rosary.

 

“Doing so would leave you quite injured. As I value life, I fear I must decline,” Prowl said, smirking slightly. 

 

“You just have _all_ the answers, don't you?” the teen growled, keeping his glare at maximum drive. The ninja bot remained still, as he always did.

 

Prowl chirruped. “If I did, I'd be a very boring bot. But, back to my question-”

 

“Oh, fuck off!” the teen snapped, turning his back on the bot, frowning at the warehouses surrounding the lot. There was no one out there, so the teen could scream as loud as he wanted. He was just fine with doing so. “You're cocky, you know that? You think you can read Mattie like a book, but you're _wrong_.” Cole growled, teeth bared. “There are things that you'll _never_ understand.”

 

Prowl chirruped, visor narrowed. “I beg to differ.” Cole said nothing, but he did turn to the ninja bot and roll his eyes. The ninja bot whirred, and continued, “Nell hasn't told me much, and I don't expect to know her as well as you do. You _are_ her brother, after all.” The teen glared at him, but Prowl remained still. “I only know what she feels she can tell me, and I'm... surprised, really, that I know what I do about her.”

 

“You don't know anything,” the blond growled, fists clenched. “...and I'm gonna make sure you never do.”

 

Prowl beeped, frowning. “Why is that?”

 

The blond rolled his eyes, frowning. “You're a _robot_. If you go snapping or something, you could kill her like _that_.” he said sharply, snapping his fingers.

 

“I don't snap, Cole. I use logic to figure things out.” the bot said, visor narrowed.

 

“Bullshit. Logic can't solve _every_ thing.” the teen said, glaring at Prowl with strange, unfounded anger.

 

Now Prowl was really confused. What in the pit was Cole trying to say? “Cole, I don't understand. What do you mean?”

 

The blond looked away, stuffing his fists into his pockets. “Like I'd explain it to someone like _you_.”

 

At that, the ever patient ninja bot had had enough. “Fine.” he said in a clipped tone, standing from his crouched pose before turning on his heel, walking back toward the plant.

 

“Oh, what, you gonna tell Mattie I _yelled_ at you?” the blond yelled.

 

Prowls shoulders stiffened, and he straightened up from his already proper pose. He turned his head to look sideways at the human who refused to listen to him. That human that he couldn't understand and refused to understand him. “I don't see a point in arguing with you. No matter what I tell you, you'll say that I'm wrong. I will not waste my time trying to make a point that you will only ignore.” the bot said, voice flat. He turned back to the plant, and walked toward the welcoming entrance. “Goodnight, Cole.”

 

The ninja bot had only taken a few steps inside when he heard the sound the chain link being rattled, and someone yelling. “ _Fuck!_ Fucking cocky ninja! _Fuck!_ ” Prowl heard Cole yell from outside. His visor flattened at the top, and he sighed quietly. He would never understand that human, and he knew it. Prowl whirred, and walked on, ignoring the swears coming from the teen. There was nothing he could do for him. Right now, he had to find Nell.

 

What had Prowl concerned was when Nell had pulled her pants down. He had only briefly seen the scar, or scars, on her hip. He hadn't a clue were they came from and something told him not to ask. Not now, at least. Maybe later, maybe never. He only knew that _now_ was not a time to talk about... whatever it was that made his friend that upset. He was also curious as to what she meant by 'us'. He knew Cole was gay, and Nell had yelled about it, but how did it apply to Nell? If she were, it wouldn't change how he saw her. Somehow, he didn't think she was, but he couldn't be sure...

 

There was a buzzing sound, and a familiar blue streak came his way. Blurr... oh boy. The speed demon of a bot halted before him, bouncing but at a standstill. Or, at least as still as he could manage. “Holy-Primus-Prowl-I-am-glad-I-found-you!”

 

Prowl whirred, visor wide. “Uhm... hello, Blurr.” the ninja bot had no idea what Blurr had said.

 

The blue bot was bouncing on his strange feet, optics huge and fists clenched. He was practically vibrating. “I-have-been-looking-for-you-for-EVER! Nell-told-me-to-find-you-and-I-did-now-come-on!”

 

Okay, the bot understood that. “Alright... where is Nell?”

 

“Well-she-seemed-pretty-upset-about-something-I-mean-she-was-leaking-and-that-really-scared-me-so-I-asked-her-what-was-wrong-BUT-she-didn't-really-say-anything-she-just-clammed-up-and-stared-in-to-space-and-since-I-owe-her-my-LIFE-I-figured-I-could-at-LEAST-take-her-to-the-medibot-to-see-what-was-wrong-but-she-asked-if-I-could-take-her-to-YOU-but-when-I-took-her-to-your-room-you-weren't-in-the-room-which-is-kind-of-ODD-because-you-are-almost-always-in-there-from-what-I-hear-from-the-bots-you-work-with-but-now-that-I-found-you-I-can-tell-you-what-happened-and-I-have-to-ask-where-the-slag-were-you!?”

 

Again, Prowl was lost. “You brought Nell to my room... and went to find me... and now that you have... I think I'll just talk to Nell about this.” he said, walking past the speedy bot. “Thank you for telling me, Blurr.” another zipping sound told him that the bot had gone off to do some other task. The ninja bot walked to his room, seeing the screen was down. He nudged the sensor, and the screen went up.

 

“...hello, Nell.” he said. She was standing in the middle of the room, head up, looking at the tree. She said nothing. “Blurr told me you wanted to talk to me. I... heard what had happened.” he didn't know how to talk to her about it, so, he said the only thing that fit. “When you feel ready, I will listen.”

 

A moment later, the woman sighed. A tired, practiced, hurt sigh. “Prowl... uh...” Nell cleared her throat, looking up the tree at nothing. “L-listen... there are things.” She said, rocking on her feet.

 

The ninja beeped, getting on all fours. He felt that, whatever was wrong, it would be easier for his friend to talk about if he were somewhat on her level. She didn't seem to like it when someone loomed over her. He could understand that. He himself wasn't exactly massive. He was only eleven feet tall, which by human measure was tall for any being, but by Cybertronian measure was small for being a mech. He whirred. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Nell stayed still for a moment, and nodded. Prowl waited for a minute or two. Nell looked like she'd start crying, but she didn't, and sat down. “Ah...” she ran a hand through her hair. She sighed, not looking at him. “Things... our mom. She was... well, she was crazy. Like, scary crazy. A total God Nut. She raised Cole and I believing these... these _stupid_ extremist things. I couldn't get my head around it, and she'd let _me_ have it.” the woman mumbled. The wide visored look Prowl was giving her said she had to explain. “Not... not like _hit_ me or anything, just... bible thumping and confession.”

 

The ninja bot beeped. There was something wrong with pressing your beliefs onto someone. “Still, it had to take its toll. I can understand why you don't like arguing about it.”

 

The woman frowned. “The only reason I don't like talking about it is because Cole keeps _bringing_ it _up_.” she sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean... every chance he gets, he lays into me like I never went through Sunday school.” she rubbed her eyes with her hand, looking at Prowl irritatedly. “For the record, I did, but they threw me out.”

 

“Why would they do that?” the ninja bot asked, visor flattened at the top.

 

She smiled, eyebrows raised and eyes half closed. “Too many damn questions. The nuns had to have broken more rulers on my wrists than any other kid.” she then blinked, and frowned. “That last part was a joke.”

 

“Ah...” the two were quiet for a while.

 

“Uh... er... Prowl I hate doing this to you and all...” Nell mumbled, looking uncomfortable and squirming a bit. “...I gotta ask...”

 

“Speak your mind.” the bot said. He found Nell to be shy when it came to questions. More likely than not, questions about or concerning him.

 

“...what, um... what do _you_ believe?”

 

Prowl thought about it a moment. It was a simple question that deserved a simple answer. He could understand why she felt funny asking him. He hadn't exactly explained his own beliefs... “I would rather believe there is something to only find nothing, than believe there is nothing only to find something.” he said, giving the female a small, calm smile.

 

The woman blinked. She hadn't exactly seen that coming.

 

Prowl crept toward her, sitting on his knees. He placed his hand on her shoulder carefully. “For what it's worth, Nell,” she gave him a look that he didn't understand. The dark bot frowned. “You're a good person. Did you know that?”

 

Nell's mouth twitched. “...just saying that.”

 

Prowls visor pinched slightly in the center. “I'm _not_ just saying it. To me, it's true. You're... different.” he only used that word for lack of a better one. Not everyone viewed different as a good thing.

 

She smiled sadly at him. “Is...that a good thing?”

 

The ninja bot smiled at her. “It is for me.” he then pulled his arm back, resting it in his lap. “After all, I'm different.”

 

Nell blinked at him. “Really now, I hadn't noticed.” she said with friendly sarcasm.

 

Prowl smiled at her, tilting his head. “Hmm... let's see. I am not only a ninja, but a cyber- _ninja, I am an Autobot, which also means I'm a robot, in case you forgot, Nell._ So, I would say that I am _very_ different.”

 

“You're also a gentleman. That's hard to find these days.” the female said shyly.

 

Prowl's visor shifted, but he kept smiling. “Really now, I hadn't noticed.”

 

Nell giggled. She didn't do that often. It made him feel... happy. The short female pushed herself onto her feet. “I'm gonna go try and find something to eat. I think Cole threw out my sandwich... oh well.” the woman walked past him, and paused by the screen. “...thank you.”

 

Prowl watched her walk out of sight, and crossed his legs. He felt that meditating was in order. Even though Nell had gone, he answered her. “You're welcome, Nell.” with that, Prowl relaxed, and let his mind go.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws Cole* Fuck outta here!


	20. Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roughly halfway through, the Decepticons show up. Goddamn.

Chapter Twenty: Ways.

 

_Just remember, there's a right way and a wrong way to do everything and the wrong way is to keep trying to make everybody else do it the right way. ~Colonel Potter, M*A*S*H*_

 

**X**

 

Laying awake because your mind won't shut off can be a hard thing to handle. But when you had made your sister cry because you only wanted to help, it made it harder. Cole, funny little blond that he was, was going through that right now. It was late, very late, and he was wired from guilt. Not guilt from screaming at Prowl, but from hurting his sister. Cole didn't care about Prowl.

 

Nell wouldn't talk to him on the ride home. They rode in Bumblebee, seeing that Cole wanted nothing to do with the ninja bot. Bumblebee didn't mind giving them a ride, although he had to explain to Blurr that the two siblings didn't want to talk to one another.

 

The teen sighed for the hundredth time that night, and rolled over for the millionth. His mind kept playing over her screaming at him. He hated the screaming... the teen rose from the sleeping bag, and got on his knees next to his sister. She was out cold, so, he decided to poke her. “Mattie.” he poked her again, whispering louder this time. “Mattie.” she swatted his hand and inched away. Again, he poked her, and this time, she rolled his way, still sleeping but looking annoyed. “Mattie?”

 

At that, her eyes shot open, mouth a tight circle. “What?” she snapped. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being woken up after only sleeping for... well, she didn't know how long she'd been sleeping, but she wasn't happy. “Talk.”

 

The teen backed up, gray eyes wide. He swallowed. “Are you still mad at me?”

 

Nell blinked, still tired. She glared at him, sitting up. Her feet dangled over the bed, toes touching the floor. She sometimes forgot how small she was. “You woke me up at-” she glanced at her alarm, which read one AM. sharp, “-one in the freaking morning to ask me if I was _mad_ at you?” the blond teen nodded, and the woman sighed, “...dammit, Cole, what's going on?”

 

He blinked, shrinking a little. “I-I just wanted to know if you were mad at me...”

 

Nell blinked. “For...?” she said, holding her palms up in a confused gesture. When her brother did nothing, she did the gesture again, frustrated. “ _For?_ ”

 

He winced. “For... pushing you about... about _God_ and... and all...” Cole shuffled on his feet, looking at the floor. He looked uncomfortable in his own skin.

 

“Wha?” the short female said with a groggy blink, then groaned, “You woke me up at one in the morning to talk about God _again?_ ”

 

“No! No, no that's not why... I just...” the teen swallowed. Maybe waking her up was a bad idea. “I just hate the idea of you being mad at me...”

 

The woman sighed, “I'm not mad about that. You just pushed me too far... I yell, you know I yell.” she muttered, ruffling her hair. “Besides, Prowl helped with that.”

 

“Right... _that_ guy.” Cole's attitude went from panic to pissed upon hearing about the ninja bot. “Why do you even like that guy?”

 

“...why shouldn't I? He's calm, he listens, he cares, he's quiet, he doesn't argue with me every second of the day! Hell, why do you _not_ like him? Huh? What do you see that makes him the bad guy, eh?” the woman asked, brows low and tiredness fading.

 

“He's... well, he's... uh...” Cole fumbled to work out a good answer, but his sisters stare was distracting. At that moment, she looked almost, _almost_ , like their mother. Her feet apart, eyes red, fists tight and jaw set... he swallowed. “He's... well, he's a guy! Guys only want one thing! You know that!”

 

She snorted. “Prowl's not one of _those_ guys, Cole.”

 

“You say that now, sis! Wait until he tries something! He could kill you if you get him mad! If he learns something he doesn't like, he could tear you apart!”

 

“Oh, I wonder what you mean by that... you say that like I don't know what I'm doing... ugh...” the woman was past frustrated. She frowned, and sighed. “...Know what? I'm tired of this.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Nell frowned, standing up. “I am... so tired. You...” she snorted, grimacing, “You are... you are the _biggest_ control freak I have ever met in my life!”

 

“...what?” he whimpered. He wasn't a control freak, right? Nell was just cranky because he woke her up! Why did he have to wake her up?! Now, she really _was_ mad at him. “I...no, no I'm not. I...” she was his sister, the only family he really had. He only wanted what was best for her. He knew what was best for her... didn't he?

 

“Oh, oh, wow, really, you aren't? Hmm, okay, let me think. You have said multiple times that you don't like how I work my horses, you keep trying to make me believe what _you_ believe-”

 

“I only want what's best for you, sis!” Cole squeaked, eyes big. The barn seemed very small right then, he felt like he couldn't breath.

 

“No, _you_ just want control. If you wanted what was best for me, you'd back off. But, no, you just keep pushing me! You're acting like... dammit!” Nell smacked her forehead, teeth bared. “You are _starting_ to act like Bridget, and you don't know how much that scares me.” she refused to say he was acting like their mother. She didn't want that to be the case. Even though Bridget and their mother were the same person, it hurt less to say that woman's name when explaining it to Cole.

 

“ _You're_ more like her now than you were back then! Look at you!”

 

That was a low blow, and they both knew it. Nell, however, didn't miss a beat, and shouted, her voice deep and angry. “The hell I am! You _look_ like her! You _act_ like her! Hell, you frigging _are_ her!”

 

The blonds eyes narrowed. “You're wrong.”

 

The woman was past angry. “Am I?! All you've done since you've come here is-is-is bitch about everything I do!”

 

“That's not true!” he yelled, blanching. He seemed angry, but inside, he was panicking. It felt like his insides had turned into ice, like he'd shatter.

 

The woman's fists were tight and white knuckled, her legs locked and gaze stern. “You keep trying to change my mind when you know damn well I _won't_ change.”

 

Cole was frozen in his place, legs shaking. “You sure wanted to change back home, Mattie!” he didn't even realize he said it until Nell flinched.

 

“Oh... so, _this_ is what it's about...” she said, deadpan. “You supported my choice back then, but now, when I meet someone I like, you wish I were who I was back then!”

 

“So you _do_ like that stupid ninja bot!”

 

“ _That_ is _not_ the _point!_ ” Nell yelled, taking short, rapid strides toward the blond, stopping short in front of him. For a minute or so, however long it was, Nell glared hard at Cole, who stared back at her, teeth clenched and eyes wide. Nell's eyes narrowed, her mouth tightened, and her body went rigid. She took a few ragged breaths, and snarled at him, “ _Get_ _out_.”

 

The ice in Cole's stomach shattered. “...what... but... I...”

 

Nell said nothing, but she lifted her arm, pointing to the barn door. Someone down below snorted, unsettled by the yelling. The woman stayed still. “Out. Out of the barn, my sight, my life, pick something.” her voice sounded stiff and strained, like it couldn't be kept at a low level. “I love you, but you just... you are driving me insane! I need space!”

 

The teen stood, locked in his place, legs ready to crumble. “...fine!” he shouted, and took off, scrambling down the ladder. He turned too fast, and slipped off the bottom rung, landing on his hip and elbow. He didn't stop moving, though. He stumbled to his feet, panting and running, heading out the barn door. He heard Lila, that sweet palomino mare, scream when he ran by. He knew it was her, because she was the only horse in the place that liked him... “Dammit!” he cried, running down the driveway.

 

From above, a certain triple changer hovered, scanning for the target below. Blitzwing had been circling the area for a while now, waiting for an opportune time to abduct the human. There came a human from the barn, and he was off, waiting for the little organic to get far enough away from the building. Megatron had said to take the female when a damage to surroundings would be minimal. That way, the Autobots would have a harder time tracing him.

 

What Blitzwing didn't know was that the human below wasn't the female. “Target located. Preparing to intercept.” the triple changer dove downwards anyway.

 

Cole couldn't see the barn anymore. He was surprised, really, that he had made such distance. He had no clue how long he'd run, then jogged, and finally slowed to a walk. He heard a jet overhead, but didn't pay it any mind. The young blond just wanted to get as far away as he could. He kept walking, even when the sound grew louder. Cole turned around, looking at the jet. To his horror, the jet pulled apart, landing on the road in front of him on newly formed legs. Oh, shit! Not another jet!

 

“Target found.” the robot said. It was tan and dark purple, with a blue face and red optics. One optic was larger than the other. The teen was frozen again, staring, then, with a scream, he ran for the endless woods, screaming bloody murder in the hopes that someone would hear him and get the stupid robot to leave him alone. Why was it always robots that made his day so bad?!

 

Blitzwing's Angry face spun out, teeth bared. “Come back here, you half-wit meat bag!” he thundered for the woods, but growled when he remembered Megatron's orders. 'Minimal Damage' and Angry Blitzwing didn't work together. However, Random was always ready for some fun!

 

“I know you're in zhere!” he yelled tauntingly, scanning the woods for the target. He jumped forward, landing in the trees. Megatron said minimal damage, not zero damage. Random loved to bend the rules. The human was plastered against a tree, heart pounding. Aw, the little thing was scared! Good! Scared humans were so much fun!

 

Cole panted eyes wide and limbs shaking. He was being hunted by robots. Three of them! All German! They were after him, but why? Why did robots keep going after him? The teen sank down to rest on his butt, looking around. The sound of crashing caught up to him, like feet knocking down trees... oh, shit!

 

“Peek-a-Boo! I see _you!_ BWAHAHAHA!” the trees ripped away, showing the horrifying robot with a jack-o-lantern face. With that laugh, that face, and the thought of two other robots being after him, Cole fainted, hitting the ground with a thud. Blitzwing's Icy face spun out, looking at the human that fell over. “Time to head home, zhen.” he said, then picked up the prone male, not realizing he had the wrong human.

 

**X**

 

“-said minimal damage, you idiot!” Cole awoke with a start, hearing a loud, booming voice. Next to him, there was a large, glowing circle, in front of a green... thing.

 

The circle pulled back, raising up high in the dark. Where was he? What was going on? It was too dark to see much at all... but that thing that stood up. “The fleshling has awoken, my liege!” A loud, deep, heavy voice called. The teen clapped his hands over his ears, eyes shut. Dear God, that was so loud! He thought his eardrums would pop!

 

“Get away from there, you fool! Knowing your clumsiness, you'll crush the human!” the voice was dry, harsh, and somewhat British. Cole's vision tried to adjust to the dark, blinking and squinting and looking around. He looked above, and found another glowing circle, but not as high up. Above the red circle were... antlers? Was he dreaming?

 

From far off, a loud, rhythmic thumping. Cole blinked, still trying in vain to see what was going on. Someone, someone big, came into the room. The two circles, he understood now that they were optics, went behind the new comer. They were... they were huge, and in the outline, he made out a gun. A big gun that looked attached to the right arm. The head, or what he thought was a head, looked down at him. He whimpered. More red, and it was getting closer, until it was right in front of him.

 

The robot looked at the little teen, expression wise and plotting. Cole realized he was being studied, but couldn't look away from the dark red optics mere feet away. His eyes darted as he made out a helmet, a white face, and, of course, those optics. He could see, just barely, the thin outline of a mouth, firmly set in a flat, scrutinizing line. The bot rumbled, optics narrowed. The blond, feeling like he'd be eaten if he said something, backed away. To his surprise, and relief, the line of a mouth, lifted at the corners. A smirk...

 

“Shockwave,” the bot said, voice like velvet. He rose up again, leaving Cole with a strong impression that this bot, whoever he was supposed to be, was a beast. Beasts were _not_ something to fool with.

 

“Yes, my liege?” came the British voice again. Who ever heard of a British robot?

 

“Come with me. I have plans for this... little mistake of Blitzwing's,” he said, turning his head, but still looking down at the human. God, what a powerful stare.

 

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” with that, the three bots left the room, leaving Cole in the dark. For however long it was, the blond sat in the dark, arms around his legs. What kind of name was Megatron? It was Latin for something, but he hadn't read Latin for years. That part of his faith was over... he heard garbled talking outside, where ever outside was. Something about shock waves and humans... no, wait, Shockwave would take care of the human... oh crap, take care of _how?_ There was more thumping, and lights, bright, false ones, came on over head. Cole flung an arm over his eyes, stunned by the sudden lights. “Oh dear, I'm sorry about that. Are you alright?”

 

Cole dropped his arm, blinking to clear his sight. In front of him was a strange looking bot. He had a wide chest, a strong build, a white face, blue optics, and a... scuba mask? “Ah... yeah, mkay...” the bot leaned down, hands on knees, head cocked. He had a large, red gem on his forehead. “Uh...”

 

The bot smiled. “Give me a moment, would you? I need to take care of something.” Longarm turned away from the human, and called the number he had looked up. Megatron had changed the plans for the hostage, seeing that the initial target was not who they had. Time to change the plan, and it all started with a phone call to someone named 'Helena.'

 

“ _Hello?”_

 

Longarm took up the friendliest tone he could, and spoke the person on the phone. “Hello, Ma'am. I hate to call you at this time, but I believe I have your brother here.”

 

“ _...where is here and who the hell are you?”_

 

The double agent blinked. Typical human aggression. Nothing he couldn't handle. “I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name is Simon Warren. I'm the head doctor at the-” he looked up a name that was far enough for the human to get to without it seeming suspicious, “-Saint Sebastian runaway shelter. There is a young man here claiming that he has an older sister that could be reached on this line. Who am I speaking with?”

 

“ _His sister, duh.”_

 

“Ah, that makes this faster then.” again, feigned happiness.

 

“ _What does?”_

 

“He'd very much like to have a word with you.”

 

“ _I don't want to talk.”_

 

Oh dear... he didn't think that would happen. “I can understand, it is quite late. Are you certain you don't want to speak with him?”

 

“ _Yeah. Keep him. He wants to come back, call me. If not... hell, keep him all you want. I can't deal with this right now.”_ there was a click, and the call ended. Longarm blinked, frowning. It was a real frown, as he hadn't thought the human would show that kind of hostility upon mention of her family member. Oh well, time to deal with the new hostage.

 

Up went the bright, overly kind smile, and Longarm turned around, looking at the human. “Hello there, my name is Longarm. What's your name?”

 

The wee human blinked, and squeaked out, “C-Cole... sir.”

 

“There's no need to 'sir' me. Just hold still while I check you over.” With that, the bot proceeded to lean over and look at him from multiple angles. The human didn't like it, but he wasn't about to complain. That smile of Longarm's unsettled him. He wasn't sure why.

 

“Uh... where's the other guy?” Cole asked quietly. The strange bot blinked, looking confused.

 

“Why, what do you mean by other guy?” he said, smiling. It was a false smile, the blond could tell. It seemed like the bot didn't really want to talk to him, but Cole was terrified and felt like he had to talk.

 

“Uh... uh, th-th-the other bot, I mean. With the antlers and one eye?” he asked shyly, putting his hands on each side of his head to poorly copy the bot he was interested in.

 

The bot blinked. “Oh, you mean him? Yes, that was Shockwave.” he said, examining the wee human. He wasn't touching him, but he had leaned down, scanning him with the large, red 'gem' on his forehead.

 

“...where'd he go?” the blond asked again.

 

Longarm blinked again, and went back to what he was doing. He was scribbling on what looked like a sheet of glass and a very big pen with a glowing green tip before he had called Nell. “Around, I'm sure, he's never too far away.”

 

“Oh...” the blond sat down on the desk, looking around. Everything in this room was big and highly organized. Boxes with strange symbols, each box stuffed with containers of strangeness. Some with liquids, some with dust, some with rocks and glowing things. There was a large monitor and keyboard next to a tank, against the far wall, opposite the door. This room was big, but not square. It was very long, and the far corner was just wide enough to hold what looked like a bed. It seemed like four squares put together in a rectangle. “Big room... um... what's the tank for?”

 

“You.”

 

Cole froze. “I'm not a pet!” he squeaked, shrinking.

 

Longarm kept his hand moving, but spoke to the human curling into a ball. “Of course not. You're a hostage, not a pet. You've been left to my care by Lord Megatron.”

 

Lord Megatron must have been that gray bot with the gun on his arm. Who else could it be? “Oh...” Cole whimpered, blinking. “Wait... didn't someone say that bot Shockwave would take care of m-... the human?”

 

Longarm grinned. “He is.”

 

“Wait... what?!” the teen shrieked, making the double agent wince a bit. His audios were sensitive in any form.

 

Longarm smiled. False as he knew it was, he did it for the human. The human was his top priority, and he'd do what he thought was best for his new job.“You were to learn of it sometime, and I believe the first time meeting you is the best time, so that you won't mistake this...” the bot swept a hand downward, palm up, to show he meant how he currently looked, “...for what I actually look like. The reason I chose this form to begin was for your benefit.”

 

Cole said nothing, but he blinked, thin eyebrows raised in question. “According to human culture, I have a look quite similar to someone called Satan,” the double agent said calmly, frowning. “If going by human ideas, I have horns, hooves, claws, and a glowing, red optic,” he sometimes couldn't believe humans believed that kind of thing. A man on a cloud and a goat man in a burning pit? It didn't compute, but he'd rather be cautious about human ideas than have the hostage going insane in a corner.

 

Cole huffed. “Satan's not some guy with horns, and God's not on some cloud. I believe in a lot, but the clouds and horns thing is a load of crap...” he said, arms crossed. “You can show me.”

 

With that, Cole was hoisted into the air, and walked to the tank. He was dropped from his height to the tank floor. Longarm... Shockwave... _whoever_ this guy was supposed to be, wasn't too gentle. Gentle enough that he didn't snap the teen in half with his grip, but rough enough to knock the wind out of him... twice. Once on the grab, once on the drop. But Cole really didn't mind. This wasn't really happening, anyway. This was just a dream. None of this made sense, so it _must_ be a dream.

 

“...for your benefit again. I can't have you running off my desk to the floor. It's a far fall for you,” the strange bot said, sounding a bit... British? He back up, closed his optics, and slowly, very slowly, his body pulled apart. The legs and arms grew, as did his stomach, like he was stretching. Quiet, rapid clicks and hisses sounded on and on until the body took shape. Then, the face grew, and, sure enough, up came the antlers, and a single, round, red optic glowed down at him. There was Shockwave, tall, imposing, and faceless. “There we are, then,” he said, sounding bored.

 

“Wow. I didn't think you'd really do it.” the teen said from the tank floor.

 

The solo optic flickered. “Would you prefer my other form? If it makes you more comfortable, I will.”

 

Cole waved his hand. “No, no... I like this, uh, better...” he said, backing up. He pressed himself against the tank wall. Not from fear, after all, this wasn't really happening. He just didn't like being stared at. Shockwave didn't move.

 

“I suggest you try and recharge. It is rather late for a human to be awake.” he spoke blandly, then pointed with a claw, “You'll find a hammock in the corner. Do be careful when getting inside. I hate clean up duty.” whether the sarcasm was lost to the human, the horned bot hadn't a clue. After being sure the human was in the hammock, he turned his back, tapping the large light switch with a claw, sending the two into darkness.

 

The double agent knew well that no human would be this accepting to this type of situation. He could make a guess that the little organic was in shock. The reality of the situation would hit him soon enough. He'd have to be ready for, from what he'd read, running around and screaming, and possible curling into a ball. “Notes. I need to take notes.” he said to himself, heading back over to the desk. He had some data to catalog, and he was sure that Cole Fredholm Grinder, his new priority, would have questions when he awoke.

 

**X**

 

**[Shortly after phone call ended...]**

 

Nell stood still, looking out the skylight above her bed. The moon was in view, even though it was but a sliver. The woman didn't care about the moon, all she cared about was her brother. She had messed up bad, she knew, but... “I just have to keep talking, don't I?” she mumbled, hand on her forehead. She sat on her bed, hearing it creak with her light weight. Part of her wished that Prowl was there.

 

“...damn.” she muttered, taking a deep breath. Not knowing how else to handle her anger at herself, and seeing that there was no one to talk to, she reached behind her, and set her pillow in her lap. She hid her face in it, and screamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves as Cole is carried away* Bye Felicia.


	21. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, on the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part where Starscream has feelings.

Chapter Twenty One: Flight.

 

_It's too easy to turn a blind eye to the light. It's too easy to bow your head and pray. There are some times when you should try to find your voice. This is one voice that you must find today. ~ Nightcore III, Miracle._

 

**X**

 

About a week had passed since Sarah had come back from the brink. Her bodily functions had returned to normal, and she had an appetite, which meant something. In her entire time on the Moon, she had to have gained six pounds. Starscream, the magenta seeker who nearly drove himself insane -again- watching her recovery through a panel of glass, was thrilled to have back into the 'realm of the online', as he had put it. It was obvious he was thrilled, seeing that he was smiling and practically waltzing everywhere he went. Him, waltzing... it was weird, but seeing that he had wings, him walking on air wasn't so far fetched... it was still kinda weird, though.

 

The smiling was nothing new to Sarah, it was when he didn't smile was when she worried. He also hummed. Not really in tune with the song of choice -which, to her dismay, was 'Demon Heart'- but he was happy, which, in Sarah's mind, was better than him being unhappy. The one time she'd seen him unhappy was when that clone attacked her. She didn't think the lunatic jet would show such aggression upon her being threatened, but he did, and the female swore to herself not to piss off the robot that had taken her off her home world. That was new to her, having someone become violently upset for her well being.

 

She didn't know why she could put up with Lord Starscream. It helped that he wasn't repulsed by her appearance. Having someone around who wasn't disgusted by her looks helped her with the situation. Her 'upbringing' killed whatever sense of 'shock' she could have had. Well, time to poke the bear, so to speak. She stood up, and waved to the seeker sitting in front of the large monitor. She couldn't tell if she was looking at his front side or his backside. It was dark, and the monitor wasn't helping. She waved, and nothing happened. “Ugh...” she thumped her fist on the tank barrier, waves rippling from the point of touch. “Uh... Lord Starscream?”

 

The typing stopped, and the Decepticon Jet turned in his chair with a sharp shove of one of his feet, fingers laced over his stomach plating, the corners of his mouth tugging his downwards in a frown, an eyebrow cocked and head bent. “Yes?” he said at length, optics narrowed and dark.

 

“Uh...” Sarah actually fidgeted at his look. He didn't look mad, but he looked a bit... frustrated for some reason. What had he been doing? “I have a song... it took a while... but I found one.”

 

Starscream grinned, and launched himself from the chair. Sarah flinched. The seeker had jumped from the chair to the tank in an excited leap, landing in a crouch, one arm out for supposed 'flair', the other with its claws curled into a fist to balance himself. Sarah blinked. Was he... showing off? Why was he showing off? “Is that so?”

 

She blinked. “Uhm... yeah... yeah I got one.”

 

Starscream grinned. “Really?”

 

Now it was time for Sarah to frown. “Yes, really.”

 

He ignored her look of annoyance, and smirked. “Well, then, female, let's hear it.”

 

Sarah cocked her head a little, fingertips fumbling with the hem of her jeans. “You... you sure?”

 

“Of course.”

 

She blinked, heart thudding, and she tapped her foot, getting a beat. “..member black skies... ning all roun me...”

 

Starscream winced, teeth bared slightly. One hand went up, shaking his head slightly. What in the name of the Unmaker was that supposed to be? He had heard her before, and she was better than that! “Stop, stop, stop... ugh...” he growled, rubbing one of his helm crests with his claws. “Female, how am I supposed to enjoy your singing if I can't even _hear_ you?”

 

The human scowled. “...I'm nervous, okay? I don't sing for people...” she crossed her arms, seeming to pout a bit. Like he'd actually enjoy it, he'd probably just laugh at her.

 

In the back of his processor, the magenta seeker saved the image of the pouting human. He then beeped, mouth crooked. Nervous? Well, it wasn't unexpected. He had heard that something known as 'stage fright' was common in humans. He thought about it, and stood up. “I have an idea.” the seeker said, grinning. He walked behind the wall that sat behind Sarah's tank, pressing his back to it as he had done before. She'd just know it this time. Maybe, if she couldn't see him, it'd be easier. He didn't care about seeing her, he just wanted her to sing. “How's that, female?”

 

The human blinked. “Can... you even hear me?” Sarah knew well that he had good hearing, but she hadn't a clue how good. Robots... she'd _never_ get robots. Especially the magenta, screechy voiced, psychotic ones...

 

He grinned, even though it couldn't be seen. “Of course!” this was true, but only barely. He'd rather hear this from behind a wall than not hear her at all.

 

The human blinked, taking a few breaths. She tapped her foot on the floor, keeping a beat she could only hear in her head. “I remember black skies and lightning all around me. I remember each flash as time began to blur. Like a startling sign, that fate had finally found me... and your voice was all I heard. That I get what I deserve.” Starscream could barely hear her. She'd better be louder, or the deal would be off. Okay, it wouldn't be off entirely, but it'd be modified. He liked the song, though... it wasn't 'Demon Heart', but he liked it...

 

The female took a deep breath, and half belted the next line.“So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean! Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes! Give me reason To fill this hole, connect the space between! Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies... across this new divide!”

 

The seeker grinned. That was much better. Now, he could _really_ enjoy the show. “There was nothing in sight but memories left abandoned. There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow. And the ground caved in between where we were standing. And your voice was all I heard! That I get what I deserve! So give me reason to prove me wrong! To wash this memory clean! Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes Across this new divide!”

 

There was a pause, and for a moment, the song seemed over. Then, from the tank, Sarah sang again, “In every loss, in every lie, in every truth that you'd deny. And each regret, and each goodbye was a mistake too great to hide! And your voice was all I heard, that I get what I deserve!” Sarah yelled, voice straining ever so slightly. She then threw her head back and sang loudly, foot tapping and all. “So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean! Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes! Give me reason to fill this hole! Connect the space between! Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide!”

 

Starscream blinked, mouth curled upwards at the corners. The human stopped singing. The song was over. “Hmm...” he had enjoyed it, though. Nothing he was 'used to' for music, but he liked it. The seeker thought about it for a minute, and peeked out from behind the purple wall. He had a new idea. “Is that all?”

 

The female sighed quietly. That song was hard on her voice, and he didn't even appreciate it. Why did she even bother? She should have known better. “...Yes, Lord Starscream. That's it.”

 

With that said, Starscream stepped out from behind the wall, grinning. “Well done, female.” he smirked, tilting his head at her. “Very well done.” he said again, optics narrowed, smirk wide and hands clapping slowly. He was quite pleased.

 

Sarah rolled her eyes at him, smirking. “Thank you, Lord Starscream.” she couldn't stand calling him 'lord' anything. She had wanted to call him just Starscream, but she didn't know if he'd be 'okay' with that. He seemed... rather sensitive about his name for some reason. “So... what now? Are... we heading out today? What's the plan?”

 

He thought about it for a moment, and walked over to the tank, leaning down to look at her. He smirked, head cocked. “I suggest we do a little test run, that way you'll be able to ride within me without... what's it called... oh! Vomiting, that's it.” the seeker said. With a hiss, his cockpit opened, showing an empty, gray casing that should have held a spark. He grinned at the female, and placed his hand in front of her.

 

Sarah blinked, frowning before walking toward him. Once she was in reach, he wrapped his long, talented fingers around her, and lifted her up. She was such a warm creature... and so easy to break. He could snap her like she would a twig if he wanted to. For some reason, the thought of killing his human chilled his tanks. “Lean back against the canopy when I say to, female. I don't want you to get stuck in my gears when I transform,” he smiled, optics narrowed. “Think you can do that for me, Sarah?”

 

Sarah, not used to hearing him say her name, responded shakily, “Yes, Lord Starscream. I understand.”

 

There came the psychotic grin, and he dropped the wee human, rather gently, into his cockpit, the canopy lifting up to close her in. “Just relax. We're going outside the ship today. Would you like to see the surface of the Moon, Sarah?” not like she had a choice in the matter. He felt her hands grip some... rather sensitive parts of his, but it didn't matter. Not like she could hurt him... well she _could_ , but that was beside the point. “Primus, would you calm down? You're inside of me, female. Nothing can go wrong!” of course, a lot of things could go wrong, but he'd rather not think about it. “Here we go, then... oh, and you'll want to hold on once we are outside...” but what was there to hold onto other than his insides?

 

The female squirmed, trying to stay out of his wires and gears and failing horribly. She never realized his insides were so complex... what was she sitting on? It felt like a hole or something. Sarah carefully turned around, and wound up pressed against the canopy. There was a sudden jerking, and she heard the jet growl. “Just _what_ are you doing?” there was Starscream's voice, but he sounded like he was talking into a can.

 

“...what's that?” she asked quietly, looking to where her bum had been. It looked like a fancy metal tire, with lots of shiny mesh and wires inside.

 

“What is what?”

 

“Uh...” the human braced her arms against the glass, and tapped the strange thing carefully with her foot. “...this, Lord Starscream.”

 

He jerked again, then continued to walk. He was taking his time in finding a door to the outside, though. Nothing wrong with liking the idea of carrying Sarah around. It was just because his hands were free. Yes, that was why he liked it. “That is, or should I say, _was_ , my Spark chamber.”

 

“...a what?”

 

He sighed. Right, she had no idea. “You remember that I am essentially immortal, right?”

 

Sarah shuddered. “Yeah... I remember.” the loud scream of regretting nothing, those strange, laser gun things stuffed in his mouth, purple rays coming out of his head. Blue fluid on the floor. Then, him getting back to his high-heel-looking feet to snap his long, silver jaw back into place as if nothing had happened. Pretty damn hard for her to forget.

 

“Well, a _Spark_ is much like what you humans call a _soul_. That is where it would go. I went offline, but an Allspark fragment embedded itself within my helm, so I no longer _need_ a Spark.” he had found a door to the lunar surface, and was proceeding to punch in an access code to get out. He had taken a longer route.

 

There was silence within. Sarah seemed shocked, her hot hands pressing against his canopy. “So... that means... you didn't have a _choice_ to be immortal?” not having a choice in something that would effect you so much was a scenario she grew up with.

 

“Exactly.” he said. Now she got it. There was something about dying and coming back a few times that made you more than a little nutty. Had becoming immortal driven him _further_ into lunacy? Probably, but who was he to complain? It had given him the upper hand when he would fight Megatron. Now, if he could only find the slagger... “Now then, we're going outside.” the door lowered like a ramp, and he stepped down, standing soundly on the gray soil. “Ah, good, old, Moon. As dull and gray as ever.”

 

Sarah squirmed to turn around, leaning back carefully to look out at the boring rock. In her mind, it was beautiful. Like a canvas waiting for paint. She smiled. How could this place be boring? Then she looked at the reflective dome known as a canopy, and saw a fuzzy reflection of herself. She winced, and looked down at her feet, eyes half closed. What an ugly creature. “Not from Earth... it's pretty from Earth.”

 

“Ah...” he said flatly, looking around. “You should have stayed put, we're about to take off.” he said quickly. Canopies were sensitive, as were most of his inner workings. Why did she have to grab things so much? If she landed on something, he wouldn't mind. It'd hurt like the pit, but he wouldn't mind. She was tiny, anyway, so it wouldn't hurt too bad... and she wouldn't hurt him on purpose, of course... he shook his head to clear those rambling, irritating thoughts, and crouched, head down. “Time to go! Get to the canopy, female!”

 

“Ugh!” she grunted loudly, slipping when the seeker leaned forward, ending up as a heap of limbs and meat against the golden glass. “Ow-whoa!” the sound of gears and grinding and clicking, whirring and shifting, until, slowly, the Spark chamber she was staring at was pulled back, the inside of the seeker turning into the inside of a typical Harrier Jet. Or, as far as she could tell, it was normal. There was a loud roaring of thrusters, and the Moon was getting farther away. The seeker turned, and Sarah half rolled, half fell, onto the newly formed seat. “Oof!”

 

Starscream flung straps over the female, pulling her hard onto the seat. “Hahahaaa!” he cackled wildly, and spun a few times before gliding around the Moon, tipping slightly to curve and bend around the silvery surface. “Having fun, Sarah?”

 

“Holy shit, Starscream!” she shrieked, gripping the seats for all her worth, bony knuckles turning white. “What the hell?!”

 

Oh, he wished she could see his grin! “I'll take that as a yes, then. Here we go again!” he laughed, corkscrewing slowly in the pitch black vacuum of space. “I'd have given you a bit more warning, but I can't take off slowly. Being a top-of-the-line warrior for the Decepticon cause, I have to be ready to fly at a moment's notice. Force of habit, my dear.” it was well known, to other Decepticon's, at least, that Starscream loved to brag... even though he tended to stretch the details... a lot.

 

“You're a warrior?” she asked, voice high.

 

“I was second in command in the Decepticon forces. I've slain many Autobot scum, and a few other Cons who get in my way. I'm the best Seeker there's ever been! Hahahah!” he made a wild figure eight, and glided for a bit. They had only been flying for a minute or so, but Starscream only wanted to give Sarah a taste of what was to come. Then he had a thought. “Is there anywhere you would like to go when we head for Earth?”

 

The petrified human had clamped her mouth shut from the force of the spinning as well as shock. This was terrifying, but it was also amazing. She thought for a bit, blinking. He was interested in what she wanted? Well, that was new... “Uh... the Ouimet Canyons... up in Ontario. I went there when I was a kid, and I'd like it if we could go... you'd... uh...”

 

“Yes?” he said rather cheerily.

 

She fidgeted, unsure why. “You'd like it.”

 

“Then, to the canyons it is!” he called out, dipping down to land. “Canopy again, female.” he said, extending his landing gear. Once he felt the wee human crawl out of his cockpit, his wheels touched down, and he slowly came to a halt. He transformed, and stood up, smiling. “Ah, just what I needed, how about you? Enjoy your first flight?”

 

The female was shaking, and she clasped her hands together. Her stomach felt like it flipped around a thousand times, and she was kind of afraid to open her mouth. “...yeah... yeah.” she muttered, sliding down against the canopy to sit. It seemed to curve around her perfectly.

 

The magenta jet shuddered a little at the contact, but patted his canopy lightly before walking back inside the _Nemesis_. “Good... lets get you inside. You're starting to lose body heat, and we know how badly that can go, right?” she said nothing, but he didn't mind. He knew she was there.

 

Sarah was, if not his latest project, his own little messed up songbird. He liked the idea, even though she wasn't the greatest singer he'd heard. Oh, what did it matter! She was his, and as soon as the Moon and Earth were in the right positions, he'd take her to the canyons. He'd just have to figure out where they were, then, the time would be set. Deep down, he couldn't wait. The thought of making his little human happy was a wonderful one that made him feel... warm... inside... _What?!_

 

Upon the feeling of 'warm fuzzies' invading his systems like a nasty virus, the magenta and black seeker punched himself in the side of the helm. Not too hard, just enough to try and knock some sense into himself. His human was a test subject before anything, as if she really were anything else other than that. She was a human, a tiny, stupid, common, filthy organic creature. They were simple, easy to find, worthless. One little human was _nothing!_

 

But... if she really mattered so little to him, then why did he panic when she nearly offlined? Why did he call her Sarah instead of Subject Nine? How had he grown so attached to such a pathetic creature?

 

He didn't know, and Starscream _hated_ not knowing.

 


	22. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back with Prowl and Nell... also Shockwave.

Chapter Twenty One: Help.

 

_Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other. ~ Tom Robbins_

 

**X**

 

In the beginning, Shockwave found the human, Cole, to be quiet and calm. By beginning, he meant the first day. Twenty four hours of total silence. The human moved, yes, but he said _nothing_. No reason for concern, so long as the human functioned. He would walk around the circular tank, touching his toes to his heel, doing the motion over and over until he circled the tank, arriving back where he began. He would then do it again, and sit in the hammock, and do so again. By the third time, the human had decided to rest, and didn't move for the rest of the day.

 

By day two, the human was curious about what the double agent was doing, even going so far as to ask simple questions. Mostly 'What's that?' followed by 'Okay, thanks.' after an explanation was given. It was a good sign that the human was talking, but that was all he said. At least he was eating, which was also a good sign. Shockwave had to wonder, though, if this human was stable. Shock should have ended by now. The double agent wasn't sure what to do other than wait.

 

Then, about half way through day three with the Decepticons, Cole came to the rather horrible realization that what was going on around him _wasn't_ a dream. He was fully awake, he was inside a giant fish tank, and he was being handled by a giant, one eyed _robot_ with _claws_ and _antlers_. The fact that the robot was under the orders of an even _bigger_ robot with a gun on one arm didn't help at all. On top of that mountain of flaming monkey crap, there were robots the poor blond hadn't even seen, but had heard. There were three German robots, and one loud, Megatron fanatic.

 

With the situation fully comprehended, Cole did what he would have done when this all started; he screamed... a lot... for several minutes. Shockwave's single optic snapped shut like a camera lens, opening to a bright red pinpoint. Dear Primus, he hadn't known humans were so _loud_. If he had known, he would have built tanks with some sound proofing. “Oh dear...” the Con said quietly, optic opening about halfway, only to go back to a pinpoint again when he heard more screams. What to do, what to do... oh, yes, call Lord Megatron.

 

“What is it, Shockwave?” the low voice of the Decepticon Overlord said. He didn't sound like he was in the mood for talking.

 

“Lord Megatron, I don't know how to handle this situation. The human has come out of shock, and he will _not_ stop screaming.” Upon that being said, the human screamed again, loud enough to be heard over the comm link. Shockwave continued, calm voice slightly strained. “I hate to disappoint you, my liege. I should have been prepared for this type of problem.”

 

Megatron frowned, black hands curled into fists. He growled quietly, mouth to the side. He thought for a moment, and stood, walking out of the main room. He had to discuss the new plan with the double agent anyway, he might as well do so in person. That, and he didn't need Shockwave down with a processor ache at this time. He arrived at Shockwave's quarters, frowning at the high pitched screaming the human was making. It was irritating, and if he could hear it through a foot of solid steel, and three feet of rock, it would be difficult to talk to Shockwave. “Hmm...” he had an idea, frowning.

 

Shockwave opened the door, and stepped out of his leader's way.

 

“Wait outside. We have much to discuss, and I can't talk with this racket.” Shockwave nodded, and happily ducked out of the room. The human, Cole, was still screaming. To say that Megatron was making it worse was the understatement of the decade. The silver giant leaned over the tank, and Cole screamed yet again. Megatron glared at him, and reached down into the tank, swiftly pinning the human to the floor with a clang and a thud. The air in the blonds lungs was gone, and he kicked a bit before giving up, eyes wide and terrified. The silver Decepticon forced eye contact with the organic, and growled, “You will be let up when you stop screaming.” he said flatly, optics narrowed.

 

Cole stared at the mighty silver bot, feeling the heat and pressure from his large hand. “...and what if I _don't_ stop screaming?” he squeaked, trying to shrink away from that terrifying stare.

 

Megatron pressed a bit harder, just enough to get his point across, head perched proudly on a curled fist. “Then you will not be let up. Is that understood?” his tone left no room to argue. Cole nodded, and laid still. Or at least he would have, had Megatron not been scarier than his mom after he came out, which he thought was impossible. The black hand lifted, and Cole sat up. He stared at the intimidating beast of a robot, and backed away until his back met a wall. He saw Shockwave poke his antlered head through the door, two claws around the door frame.

 

The cold stare he gave the human turned into a mild, crooked smirk. He stood up, optics seemingly relaxed, but still stern and terrifying. He reached down toward the human male, and, despite the shut eyes and arms flinging up to protect his head upon reaching for him, patted Cole on the head with two fingers. “Good human.” the Decepticon said flatly. He then turned, and walked out of the room, Shockwave turning to follow. “Now, where was I?” the silver hellion said smoothly, the door shutting with a deafening clang.

 

With trembling hands, Cole grabbed his rosary, rubbing his thumb gingerly over the tarnished cross. He was _terrified_ , and that was what he _did_ when he was terrified. Cole closed his eyes, and he prayed. “O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of everlasting life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.” he said quietly, rocking on his bum, staring forward in the dark.

 

What he didn't know was that the two, large Decepticons outside the room could hear him. Shockwave had his optic almost open, as his audios were still ringing from the screaming. “Interesting... I was not aware that organics _had_ religion.”

 

Megatron growled quietly. “You were _also_ unaware that they could make such horrendous racket.” the gray and red Decepticon said, smirking. “Are you certain you can handle an organic? It may be too difficult for you.” Megatron knew that Shockwave was _more_ than capable of handling one mere human, but there was nothing wrong with messing with the double agents processor a bit. Especially when he knew it would lessen mistakes. Megatron did not want mistakes.

 

Shockwave's lone optic opened fully, his posture straightening from its slightly hunched position. He could handle this. He could _more_ than handle this, and he would prove it. “It won't happen again, my liege. You have my word.” he then bowed, left arm across his stomach, right arm straight out. Megatron frowned slightly.

 

“Make sure of that, Shockwave.” he said heavily. “Now, as for our little hostage, he's far younger than the original, and is therefor, far easier to break.” he smirked. Breaking things could be fun when done properly.

 

Shockwave nodded, standing tall and awaiting orders.

 

“He seems to have at least _one_ thing that is important to him, which, by the irritating chanting I am hearing, seems to be religion. I want you to start with that, and alert me to anything that we could use.”

 

Shockwave nodded, and went back into the room. “As you wish.”

 

**X**

 

Prowl had decided to give Nell and her brother some room to breath. The ninja bot had given up on trying to understand Cole. He wasn't one to give up easily, but the blond proved to be a little too stubborn for his infinite patience. He took the ride slow, because it was a beautiful day. It was about noon when he left the plant, and Autumn was starting to show. Strange... he hadn't really been one to obsess over time, but when he thought about it, it was interesting. He had known Nell for two months, three weeks, and two days. Eighty days... it didn't seem that long to him.

 

The ninja bot pulled into the gravel driveway, transforming and looking around. Nell was normally around the barn. He could find her if he felt the need, but- _Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_ ...what in Primus name was that noise? It was coming from the woods, but he wasn't sure what it was. Prowl stepped over the barbed wire, and walked toward the sound.

 

He saw Brandy and... Casio, that was it, Casio, in the field. The little mule had grown, his poofy black coat fading away into a sleeker look of jet black with a tan nose. He was already taller than his mother, just enough to peak over her back. Upon seeing the ninja bot in the field, Casio whinnied, and hopped toward him. He walked around his feet, shaking his head and snorting. “Hello, Casio. You've grown...” keeping an optic on the donkey- who seemed rather bored- Prowl carefully ruffled the tuft of hair between the creatures perked ears, and smiled. “You wouldn't happen to know where Nellie is, would you?”

 

Casio blinked, balked, and ran around his feet again. No help from the mule, then. _Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_ There was that sound, a bit louder than before. Again, the bot took his time, as he saw no need to rush. After a few minutes of walking, he saw the Belgian gelding, Champ, standing in the trees, stubby tail swaying, a large leather contraption around his neck and chest. Then, just to the far left of the horse was Nell, with an ax, hacking her way through a rather large tree. Prowl whirred, and waved. “Uhm... Hello, Nell! ...what are you doing to that tree?”

 

She didn't turn around, but she did wave an arm at him before going at it again. “Hey, Prowl!” _thwack! She_ hit it again, a wedge of wood flying into view.  “I know you like trees... you have, like... twelve of them?” she smirked, and turned to him. Parts of her tank top were dark. She'd been at it for a while it seemed. She pointed with her thumb at the large tree she was hacking at.

 

“This guy's been dead for a long time. About...” she thought about it, and shrugged. “Not sure, a year? I gotta get it down and broken up for wood. Winter's a bitch out here. It's big, though...” she went after the tree again. “I've been - _thwack_ \- out here - _thwack_ \- since eight - _thwack_ \- this morning - _thwack_ \-- **clunk!** ” at that, a wood chip hit Nell in the forehead. She blinked, and rubbed the red spot, frowning, “...ow.”

 

Prowl beeped, mouth crooked. That looked like it hurt. “Do you need help with it, Nell?”

 

The woman swung again, sending another chip flying. “Maybe later. How are you at hauling?”

 

He chirruped. “Hauling?”

 

Nell straightened up, leaning to crack her back, resting the ax over a wide shoulder. Prowl didn't like the sound her body made when she straightened. “Yeah... that's why Champ's out here. He _is_ a draft horse, and a good one at that. He hasn't done it for a while, though.” she moved her hips in a circle, cracking them as well before swinging the ax again. “He'll be fine, don't worry.”

 

“Ah...” with that, he watched the woman swing the ax. She was good, but she didn't look like she had done it for a while, like her movements were stiff. It was a big tree. The size of it made him hope that Nell could run, just in case the tree decided to topple over. With the chances of it toppling over in her direction, slim though they may be, he was half expecting to hear Cole yelling at her for doing something so... hold on, just where _was_ Cole?  “Nell... where is Cole?”

 

Nell had her back on him, and she stood straight at his question. Simple question, nothing to panic about... instead of panic, though, she grunted, and slammed the ax head into the tree, knuckles white. Prowl beeped, startled. Nell sighed upon hearing that noise. She learned that, from hanging around with other bots, that the sound meant confusion or shock... sometimes other things. She let go of the handle, and ran a hand through her hair. “Cole ran off a few days ago. Kid wakes me up at one in the damn morning to ask me if I was mad at him for... the argument in the lot. Got a call a few hours later that he was at some run away shelter.”

 

Prowl said nothing, but cocked his head slightly, chirruping. Nell continued, looking at the sky. “I freaked out. We both started screaming at each other, next thing I know, I tell him to go... and he did. Don't wake me up like that, cos I could go ape shit on you...” like Prowl would do something so rude. He was careful in those times when he would wake her. She sighed, and tried to pull the ax out of the tree. “Grr... come on, you son of a...” she grabbed it with both hands, pulled, and stopped. “GRR!” the woman then grabbed the handle again, and this time, planted her feet on the tree, pushing with her legs to get the ax loose.

 

Prowl beeped, and walked toward the struggling woman. “Nell... if I may?” he asked quietly. The woman blinked, and lowered herself from the thing that she was trying in vain to remove. Prowl reached for the ax, and tugged it loose, handing it to the short human below. “I'd have let you continue pulling it, but you've already cut through most of the tree. I wouldn't want it to fall on you, Nell.” he didn't quite know why he had to explain.

 

Nell smiled, “As if a flea like me could pull that thing over.”

 

“You _were_ pulling quite hard, Nell.”

 

“You'd get me out of the way in time.” she said, winking. “Although... I stink pretty bad. I smell-” she smelled herself quickly, and smiled shyly. “-bad. So, yeah... he he...”

 

“You smell fine to me.” he said. The bot looked at the tree, thinking. In it's time, it was probably incredible, but now, it looked withered and gray. It was also quite tall. He hummed in though, and looked at the human. “Nell, could you stand over there for me? I would like to try something.” the woman blinked, and walked about ten feet away. “That's far enough.”

 

Prowl threw a shuriken at the tree, cutting it about a third of the way up. There was Nell, eyes large and far away. The shuriken came back, cutting the tree again. He caught it, and looked at the woman. “I thought right, you _are_ afraid of my shurikens.” he said quietly, lowering his arm, folding the weapon away. He stepped toward her as the tree slid apart, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, then another. Champ snorted loudly, head up and at attention. Nell shook her head, like she was trying to get back to reality. The woman blinked, and frowned. “There's nothing wrong with being afraid, Nell.” he could understand her fear. Sharp, flying objects could scare anyone.

 

Nell sighed. “I just... don't like knives. I like _you_... but, sharp, flying daggers of... doom and... shiny... no thank you.” the look he gave her said she should explain. She knew she'd have to tell him eventually. “There was an incident a few years ago. Guy saw me in a bar... didn't like it. So, he goes nuts on me behind the bar.” she didn't look comfortable, but she kept talking. He wanted to know, and she trusted Prowl enough to tell him anything. Well... _almost_ anything. “Sari was there. Shot at him with those... energy bolts she can make with her hands. Knocked him down, got Ratchet, dragged me to the hospital.”

 

Prowl seemed shocked by this. At least the woman thought that's what a widened visor and pressed lips meant for him. “Why would anyone _want_ to hurt you?” he asked quietly, visor flattened at the top.

 

Nell's mouth went into a flat line, her insides curling up. Not that look, that look meant he wasn't happy. Nell didn't like seeing Prowl unhappy. “I'm different, lets say that.”

 

Prowl frowned. “Being different is _not_ a sound reason for hurting someone.”

 

The woman nodded, running a hand through her stringy hair. “I know that. It's over now, though.” she looked nervous, and she looked at the ground, voice quiet. “There's some stuff I don't want to bring up, okay? I'm just _too_ different for some people, and that's their problem, not mine. Can... uh... can we change the subject, Prowl?”

 

Prowl frowned, but didn't press her further. She obviously didn't like being seen as 'different'. Maybe humans liked to pick at details. He certainly didn't see what she meant by different, though. She was short, and fit, and female. What was he missing? Maybe it wasn't what he was missing, but what others didn't see. The ninja bot didn't know. “What do you know about self defense?”

 

The human blinked, and cocked her head. What a random thing to ask. “Uh... does screaming and running away count as self defense?”

 

He smiled, “Not exactly.”

 

She shuffled her feet, and shrugged. “Then I probably don't know much.” she didn't go out much other than shopping for supplies and visiting the bots and Sari. Humans weren't a real part of her life anymore. “I can handle myself with humans, but what about a bot? Any basic things that could maybe stall for time?”

 

Basic... basic... what was basic for her? “If you manage to blow a tire, it won't hurt too much. It will, however, cripple them to a degree in vehicle mode.” he tapped his neck plating carefully, “Neck and shoulder plating tends to be thinner than that of chassis and limb plating. Should the off chance occur, and you have something sharp, drive it into any gaps that you can reach. But don't use your hands to do so. You might loose a finger... or quite possibly a hand.”

 

The woman flexed her free hand, and nodded. “Okay, I can remember that.”

 

Prowl nodded, and continued. “Optics aren't easy to break, but they are one of the more sensitive parts of our anatomy. If you can manage to only crack an optic lens, you could stop a bot where he stands from the pain. Face plates are also very sensitive, but are more easily damaged. That is why many bots had a face guard installed when the wars started. It became standard for most within a few vorns. I have one myself, though I haven't used it lately.” he activated the face guard, and smiled behind it when Nell blinked in surprise. He retracted it, smiling slightly. “That's as basic as it can be.”

 

The height challenged human nodded, and dropped the ax. “Only thing I don't really get is the face plate part. It doesn't _look_ sensitive... no offense.” she said, mouth crooked. She believed him, but she was one of those people who needed more than just words. 

 

“Would you like proof, Nell?” the ninja bot said calmly. He honestly had no idea why he was so eager when it came to engaging the woman's curiosity.

 

She smiled at him. “Only if you're gonna prove it.”

 

He got to one knee. “I am.” good, she was smiling. He hadn't meant to upset her, and knowing she was smiling now was a good thing. “Hold your hand near my face. I will tell you where it is by the heat it gives off. How does that sound?”

 

Nell cocked her head. “How do I know you're not looking?”

 

Prowl smiled, and lifted his right arm to almost completely hide the visor. “That better?”

 

The woman giggled, “Yeah... okay... here I go.” she moved her right hand toward his chin, just beneath his lower lip.

 

“Mouth.” he said. “You can be farther away if you want, Nell.”

 

“Ah...” she pulled her hand away a bit, and moved it to the left side of his face.

 

“Left.” the dark bot said, smiling.

 

Nell blinked, swallowed, and held her fingertips just under his nose. “Mouth again, Nell.”

 

Something warm and rough cupped his left cheek. “Cheek...” he didn't move. Prowl wasn't sure what the woman was going to do, and he certainly didn't want to startle her. She got closer to him, he could feel her body heat. His face was almost even with hers. If he focused, he might hear her heartbeat. The ninja bot could feel her breath near his mouth. Very carefully, he raised his arm to look at her. They were almost nose to nose, but he remained still. Nell had this strange, almost sad look, and he didn't know what she was giving it to him for.

 

Nell seemed to realize how close she was to his face, because she recoiled like she'd been the victim of an online scream prank, hand pulling away like it had been burnt. Her cheeks turned red, and her mouth grew small and tight. “K... I get it... gotta hook up the tree and drag it out back... uh...” her voice wavered, and she stumbled slightly. She felt silly now. She should have known he wasn't interested. At least he didn't ask her what she was doing. She didn't really know herself.

 

Prowl beeped, and stood up, mouth to the side. He wasn't naive. He knew what Nell had almost done. What the ninja bot didn't understand was why. What compelled her to try? He wouldn't have  _ stopped _ her, that he would admit to at least himself. But he was somewhat confused. Did she really feel that way about  _ him?  _ Maybe she was just curious. “Hmm...” when he thought about it, it was probably just her trying to see if his face plate was sensitive enough to feel her breath, which it was. The hand was probably organic instinct. That was more logical than her trying to kiss him. They were friends. Yes, that was right...  _ just _ friends. Good friends, true, but nothing else... right?

 

**X**


	23. Push

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sentinel is a jackass. A lot.

Chapter Twenty Three: Push

 

_Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. ~ Isaac Asimov_

 

**X**

 

Prowl sat in his tree, watching Nell look around his room. She was taking caution not to knock anything over. He had a lot of bonsai trees, and admittedly, he may have a few too many. Sari and Optimus had gone out earlier that day, saying something about 'private time'. “Eh... Prowl? One of your trees snagged my shirt,” indeed, one of the younger ones had snagged the hem of her tie dye tank top. She twisted her head to look at it, eyes wide. “I'm afraid to touch it... it's so tiny and light I hardly noticed. Is it okay?” she asked, mouth crooked.

 

The ninja bot slid off the branch, crept over on all fours, and plucked the small tree off of Nell's shirt. “Yes, the tree is fine.” he said, showing it to her. The ninja bot set the young plant back on the table with the others. He looked the tiny trees over, and went to his work table. “I think they may need trimming,”

 

“Prowl... what _is_ that?” she said, pointing confusedly at the black and gold helmet on a shelf. “It... it feels like there's something in there. You know, the downside to not having a roof is squirrels. Once they get in, they don't go away. I should know, I find them in the barn all the time,” she shrugged. “I think there's a squirrel in that helmet, I honestly do. It feels like it's watching me.”

 

The bot set down his pair of shears, and looked where she was pointing. He couldn't help but smile as he straightened. “That belonged to the one who trained me. Master Yoketron trained almost every Cyber ninja to walk on Cybertron.” he took down the helmet, and showed it to her. “No squirrels, but I know what you mean about being watched. I feel it too some days.”

 

“Oh, wow.”

 

He nodded. “There are several mods that go with it, but the helmet was the only thing that belonged to Yoketron.”

 

“Oh.” the woman said, mouth crooked. She did that a lot, he noticed, when she was thinking or nervous. She blinked, and looked up at him. “Why did you take them off?” Nell thought he'd look, dare she think it, sexy in that helmet.

 

“The Decepticons haven't shown themselves for a few years now. Four, if I guess correctly. I saw no need to wear them after two years without a sign.”

 

Nell's eyes narrowed in confusion. “Decepticons?” she frowned. “Sari told me about those a long time ago, but I don't remember much about them.”

 

Prowl frowned, and looked at the helmet he was holding. “Murderers, monsters, liars, they are not something you want to get mixed up in.” he looked at her, and set the helmet back on the shelf carefully. “If there is ever a bot near by who has optics that aren't blue, run.”

 

She blinked. Running she could do, but... “Easy to remember... but what about Jetfire? His optics are yellow, and he's an Autobot. He also likes my hair for... some odd reason.” she found it adorable that her hair was so interesting to the twins, but for the life of her she didn't know why. It wasn't anything special, but maybe to the twins, hair was something new to play with.

 

The ninja bot chuckled, “Red optics are really the only ones you should worry about. I think his optics are part of a color scheme that the Elite Guard use, though it may be his choice to have them yellow. Seekers are a strange group, so I wouldn't be surprised.”

 

Once again, Nell was confused. “Seekers?”

 

“Fliers, Nell. They transform into jets and airplanes.”

 

“Oh, okay.” she thought for a moment, and cocked an eyebrow. “If... Yoketron were alive, how would I greet him?”

 

The dark bot chirruped, and cocked his head. Well, no real transition there. “You would bow,”

 

The wee human blinked, and squatted a little, hand out, and looking pretty embarrassed. “How's that?”

 

Prowl whirred, visor widening a bit. “No... _never_ bow like that. Holding your hands out while bent at the waist is a very old tradition. It was done before the Great Wars, even before factions were established. Doing so gives the one you bow to the right to remove your hands.” with that, Nell dropped her arms to hang limply at her sides. “That pose gives them the right to remove your _head_.” the human covered her neck, “You don't want to know what that pose implies.”

 

Nell straightened with a huff, smirking up at him. “Why don't you show me how it's done so I don't get mutilated?”

 

Prowl smiled lightly at her, “If you are willing to learn, I am more than willing to teach.” he said quietly. “When bowing, your hands must be the first thing to move. Different poses for the hands show what fighting style you are being trained in, or have been trained in. For example,” he bent his elbows so that his fore arms formed a straight line. He then pressed both hands flat against each other, creating a right angle with his wrists. “This is what a ninja, like Jazz and I, do with our hands when we bow.”

 

The woman nodded, lifting her hands to imitate what he did with his, but stopped. “What do I do with mine? I'm the farthest thing from a ninja there is.” she said curiously, flexing her fingers before curling her hands into fists. “I'm more like a... meatball, really.”

 

The dark bot thought about it. “For now, do as I do.” he then pointed at her, hand on hip, visor pinched ever so slightly in the middle. “...and you are _not_ a meatball,”

 

“Okay,” Nell mumbled, trying to stifle a laugh, “I'm a meatloaf, then.”

 

“Nell.” Prowl said, using just a little warning in his voice. When his friend did nothing more than smile and nod, he continued, “First, meet the heels of your hands together, then your palms, then fingers, as I do.” he did the pose, and watched as Nell did the same. “Good. Now, straighten your fore arms so that they meet as a line.”

 

Again, Nell did the motion, and came close. It was her fist time doing this, he wasn't expecting perfection. “Good, Nell. Now, align you feet and knees, and bend at your hips. Try to keep your back straight.”

 

“Am I doing it? I can't tell if I'm doing it... am I doing it?”

 

He chuckled, “Not quite, but you're close,” The dark bot reached down to correct her back, but stopped. “May I touch you?”

 

Behind her hair, Nell blushed. “...yes,”

 

Carefully, the ninja bot placed his right hand on her back. “Just relax, and try to fit your back to the alignment of my hand,” he said quietly, palm flat and fingers straight. Prowl felt the woman's spine press into his hand, lining up with it, save for a small sway above her buttocks. “Good, now, straighten slowly, and bring your hands back to your sides.” she did as he said, and looked up at him.

 

She smiled, then raised an eyebrow. “What's that noise?” Nell asked, blinking up at him. Why was his hand still on her back, anyway? Robots may have had different boundaries than humans, she didn't know. Prowl really confused her when it came to physical contact. One minute he didn't like being touched, the next he went out of his way to touch her. She wasn't saying she didn't like it... okay, she had to stop thinking.

 

“That...” Prowl said quietly, pulling his arm closer to himself, taking Nell with it. “...is my Spark. It's my life force, what humans call a soul,” he moved his arm so he could balance her easier, and pulled her closer to his chest plating, smiling at her. “Listen,” he said quietly. Again, her curiosity was hard to ignore.

 

Okay, this was awkward. What on Earth was this supposed to be? Now, the woman was really confused. A few days ago, Prowl seemed a little freaked out by her touching his face, now... Still, it gave her butterflies. Lots of them. But she was confused. Why was he doing this? What did it mean? Well, she didn't want to offend him, so, she leaned closer for a better listen. “Wow...” there was this constant thrumming that pulsed right by her ear. It was... relaxing, and warm.

 

Prowl set Nell down carefully, smiling lightly at her. “That was... uh, I mean, heh... gotta, gotta go, I'll-uh, I-I'll be right back.” she said, walking stiff leggedly out of the room. She had to walk around, had to relax. She had to walk around a bit to hopefully stop her stomach from doing back flips. She'd have to think, then get back to Prowl's room and pretend that nothing happened. Or, she would have, had a certain, large chinned Autobot been standing in the hall upon her turning around to head back.

 

“Move your foot, please.” Nell grumbled, not really in the mood to be polite to this asinine robot. She hadn't see him for a while, and seeing him tower over her with a smirk and a cocky stance made her go rigid. Just when she felt warm and tingly, this jackass showed up and made her stomach butterflies drop dead. He was some sort of bug zapper. 

 

“Oh, sure, I'll move my FOOT!” he said sharply, shoving his foot forward toward her, then moving the other to make a full step toward her. She had to make four back steps to match one of his strides.

 

The human stepped back a bit, frowning. “You're a jerk, know that?” the woman said, exhausted.

 

“Why you... you stupid organic! _You_ move out of _my_ way.” Sentinel yelled.

 

Nell wanted to say 'make me', but he might make her, which would probably hurt. “Why? Wouldn't it be easier to move your foot?” she said quietly. She pointed at it, palm up. “I mean... it's not that hard to do. You did it a second ago-”

 

The dark blue bot snorted, sneering down at the human. “I was in the hallway _before_ you.”

 

“It's my planet.” she said flatly. She had a point, it was her planet.

 

“Oh yeah? Well...” the dark blue bot thought for a moment. “I'm older than you! A lot older!”

 

Nell groaned at him. She didn't want to do this. “Could have fooled me, Leno-bot.”

 

“Don't call me that fragging name!” he bellowed. The human winced.

 

“You don't like the name? Fine, I'll stop calling you that if you stop calling me a meat bag.”

 

“You're just some stupid organic. Who'd listen to you?” 

 

“Friends.” she said quietly. Yelling wasn't doing anything. Sentinel seemed content with yelling... and pointing. He _really_ liked to point.

 

“Friends? You mean those glitch headed flunkies? Pfft! Those second rate repair bots worship the ground you walk on like a-a-a bunch of stupid cogs! _I_ am their superior, they should be listening to _me!_ Not a filthy, stupid, organic meat bag like you!” he pointed at her, optics blazing almost white. Nell blinked at him, taking a step back. This bot was getting upset over something that wasn't even _happening_. She hardly _knew_ this bot and he was screaming in her face. That hit too close to home.

 

“Do you hear what you're saying? They don't worship me, they're my friends. Maybe if you mellowed out, got to know some of these 'stupid cogs', you'd get what you want. You need to calm down, relax a little, like Prowl or even Optimus. You're gonna drive yourself into a wall or something.” she wasn't poking fun at him. This bot was taking things too seriously.

 

The dark bot bent down, teeth bared. “Who'd want to be some stupid ninja or a washout?”

 

That got her mad. “You back off of my ninja, Leno-bot.!” Nell's voice dropped an octave. Prowl didn't need this asshole going on about him. The ninja may not have cared, but she did. He was 'her ninja', after all. She wasn't going to let this guy go after her friends.

 

Fairly certain he hit a nerve, as the expression went, Sentinel loomed over the human, and roared at her, “Don't you talk down to me, freak! I knew you were crazy when you went to that half wit ninja bot to hide from your freak of a brother!”

 

Oh, that did it for the wee squishy. “You'd be lucky to be _half_ the bot he is, you goddamn bigot!” she shouted. By now, said ninja, along with the jet twins, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, had entered the hallway, just in time to see Sentinel Prime jab Nell on the collarbone with two fingers. He was using his whole arm, not just his fingertips. Nell was sent a few feet back, landing hard on her shoulder blades. Her lungs seemed to flatten in her chest, the air rushing out in a huge cough. “...okay, that hurt...” she chocked.

 

“Man, what is wrong with you?” Bumblebee yelled at the dark blue bot. Bulkhead had Sentinel Prime around the waist, keeping his arms pinned while his legs kicked.

 

“Don't touch me, you worthless cogs!” he yelled. “If that thing got out of my way when I said to, I wouldn't have had to touch that filthy meat bag!” the dark blue bot yelled again, trying to get away from the large green bot holding him back.

 

“Sentinel Prime sir, why did you hurt short one?” Jetfire asked, half hiding behind his brother.

 

“Don't you question me!” was the only answer the two got.

 

Nell's vision fuzzed up a bit, before focusing on the gray faceplate of a certain ninja bot. Prowl slipped his hands under her hips and back, visor flattened at the top. “Don't move.” he lifted Nell to his chest plate, darting out of the hall and into the main room. “I've got you, Nell.” he made a quick turn, going through the main room to get to the medbay, passing an unhappy Blurr. He had heard the commotion, and figured from the dazed female the ninja bot had in his arms, Sentinel attacked the human. Blurr was pissed, to put it in human terms.

 

Sentinel's legs were still flailing when Blurr sped into his sight, large optics ablaze and mere inches away. “Have-you-blown-a-circuit-Sentinel-Prime-because-it-sure-seems-like-you-have-I-mean-if-you're-really-foolish-enough-to-attack-a-defenseless-human-I'd-think-there-was-something-seriously-wrong-with-you!” the bot had yelled so loud he actually needed a breath, “AND-if-I-were-asked-about-your-actions-today-I'd-say-you-are-being-down-right- _Conish_ -and-if-it-happens-again-so-help-me-I'll!” he had to stop, he was actually out of breath.

 

Sentinel's gaze turned from confused to offended, and he growled at the speed demon once he figured out what he had yelled. It took most bots a few seconds to figure it out. “Is that a _threat_ , Agent Blurr?” the darker bot sneered. Like the little slagger would _dare_ to threaten a Prime!

 

Blurr opened his mouth, ready to shriek out a rapid fire round of outraged, falsetto insults, but stopped, blinked, and frowned, large optics narrowed. He cycled his vents a few times, chest heaving lightly. “It's a promise... you-condescending- _sonofaglitch!_ ” the paler bot growled, then tore out of sight, streaking out of the Earth base to get Ultra Magnus.

 

Blurr didn't slow down for much, but when he wanted to make something crystal clear, he'd slow down just enough. He couldn't help but lash out at Sentinel Prime after that. He made an effort to ram it through that dense blue helm. Nell saved his spark, it was the least he could do. The Earth crew could handle Sentinel for a few minutes. If not, he was sure the Jet twins wouldn't mind keeping that glitch head pinned.

 

**X**

 

Ratchet frowned down at the human, “You just lay down and relax for a while. Keep those ice packs on there. When they stop bein' cold, you can get up. Got it, Nellie?” there were two near identical red marks on the woman's collarbone. Both square and big. The medibot could only imagine how the bruises would look. Ratchet shrugged, and went to clean some of his older tools.

 

The woman nodded, but said nothing. She lay on her back like the medibot told her to, staring at the ceiling. She'd be aching for weeks, she knew. Prowl sat on the makeshift repair bed, half facing the woman, one hand on his hip. The other hand was in his lap, but he kept his optics on Nell, visor narrow and flat at the top. The human sighed, and frowned. “That's it, I hate him.”

 

Prowl chirruped, confused. “What?”

 

“I hate him. I hate Sentinel Prime.”

 

Again, the ninja bot was confused. “You... didn't before?”

 

“Nope. Everyone gets a chance, and _he_ blew it.”

 

Prowl frowned. “It took nearly killing you for you to dislike him?”

 

The human gawked at him. “He couldn't have killed me like that, right?”

 

Prowl looked down at her, mouth crooked. “You're wrong. It's... too easy.”

 

Nell sighed. “If he wanted to kill me, he'd kill me. You're kinda overreacting here...” Prowl sounded upset, and she didn't know how to help. She seemed to be messing up a lot lately. “If I knew you'd get this way about it, I'd have shut up and moved. You shouldn't be so worried. I'm alive, you can relax.”

 

The dark bots mouth became a flat line. She wasn't even safe around the Autobots.

 

“It kinda was my fault anyway.” she mumbled. “I called him a bigot.”

 

Prowl chirruped. “Why?”

 

Nell let her head fall back, frowning. “He called me a filthy meat bag, and he called you a half wit ninja. So, I called him a bigot.”

 

“I think what Blurr said he heard was 'You'd be lucky to be half the bot he is, ya goddamn bigot.' but I could be wrong. That cat can be hard to get some times.” someone said from the medbay entrance. There was Jazz, grinning happily at the two as he walked over, a data pad under one arm. “Hate to hear 'bout Sentinel's jackassery to ya, little lady. I got sent over by Ultra Magnus to get your statement 'bout him.”

 

Prowl chirruped, and looked down at Nell, then back at the fellow ninja bot. “Should I leave for this?”

 

Jazz shrugged, “Well, it's kinda the policy for us, but I don't see why you should go.”

 

Prowl frowned, “No, I'll go.” he stood up, and headed for the door.

 

“Prowl,” Nell mumbled, but the bot already left her sight. How was it so easy for him to just disappear like that? She sighed, “Okay, what do you need me to say?”

 

Jazz sat on a nearby crate, and held up the data pad. “Just tell me what happened with you and SP.”

 

And so, Nell told Jazz all that had happened, from the butterflies hitting that loudmouthed bug zapper call Sentinel Prime to that same bug zapper knocking her on her back. Then, a thought. “Jazz... why are you here?” she asked quietly.

 

“Takin' your statement, Nellie. You didn't hit your head, did ya?” he asked it in a playful way, but the woman frowned.

 

“No Jazz, I mean... why are the Elite Guard _here_ , on _Earth_ , with _Sentinel?_ ”

 

The white bot whirred, which seemed out of character for him to do, and leaned down a bit. “Keepin' it between you 'n me, we're here lookin' for Decepticons.”

 

The human said the word slowly. “Decepticons? You mean the robots with red optics.” the bot nodded, normally smiling mouth a flat line. “You're here looking for them? Prowl told me they were gone.” her voice went lower in volume and octave, “Jazz... please, what is going on?”

 

The white bot nodded, and wrote on the data pad, taking down information he hadn't earlier. “I'm afraid I can't say much to ya, Nellie,” he got closer to her, tilting his head to try and make eye contact easier. “but what I can tell ya is that we ain't found a _thing_. That's why we haven't taken off for home yet. And until Ultra Magnus gives us the okay, we ain't gonna.” the bot went back to his seated position, smiling slightly.

 

The human nodded, holding the ice pack over her aching and bruised collarbone. She was glad that ass of an Autobot hadn't broken anything. “Yeah... yeah, I get it.”

 

Ratchet came back into the medbay. “Nellie, you're not gonna like this, but Optimus and Sari just rolled up. Apparently, Optimus got a rather frantic message sayin' what happened. He wants to get you home, just in case Sentinel's left to roam after his attack on you.”

 

The woman sat up at that. He injured her, and there was a chance that he wouldn't be punished for it? No, that couldn't be right, could it? “Uh... okay. Bye, Jazz.”

 

“See ya.” the bot said, smiling and waving as Ratchet picked her up. He set the human on his shoulder, and went outside to drop her off.

 

“Ratchet, is there any chance of putting a tracker in me?” she asked quietly.

 

“A tracker?” the medibot repeated.

 

Nell nodded. “You know, like people put in dogs? I want one for me if it can be done.”

 

“There any _reason_ you want a chip in your back?”

 

She squirmed a little. “Just... a precaution.”

 

Ratchet snorted. “You're not the kinda girl to take a precaution like _that_.” he set her down, and she crossed her arms.

 

“I just want to take a precaution, okay? Prowl told me about Decepticons, and a minute ago, Jazz told me the Elite Guard are _looking_ for them. It's... it is more than a little scary.”

 

The old medibot smirked. “Well, if that's your reasoning, I can probably get Bulkhead to design one for ya.”

 

Nell smiled, “Cool. He does some great work.”

 

The red and white bot nodded with a creak, and waved her off, heading back inside. The woman waved at him, and looked up on the roof. There was Prowl, looking down at her. She didn't see his face too well, but she smiled and waved. He raised an arm, and waved slowly. She waited for him to go out of sight before climbing into Optimus.

 

**X**

 

“Hey, guys?”

 

“Yeah, Nellie?”

 

The human squirmed in the passengers seat, looking at Sari. “...has Sentinel _always_ hated humans? Or did I do something wrong?”

 

Sari snorted, keeping a hand on the steering wheel. “He's a douche. He hates everything organic.”

 

The woman blinked. “I see...”

 

Optimus spoke up, “He wasn't always like that, though. He really didn't care about organics until a while ago.”

 

“Okay...” the older human sighed, and stared out the window. “Optimus, I got a question.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“Prowl kinda... well, what does it mean when you let someone else close to your Spark? Like... super close?” she asked, fumbling with her fingers.

 

Optimus chirruped, something Nell didn't know he could do in vehicle mode. “He didn't open his chest, did he?” he sounded a little surprised, and Sari raised an eyebrow.

 

The older female blinked. “Uh... no? He didn't show me anything, Prime. He...uh,”

 

Sari smiled, and looked at Nellie, eyes glowing a bit brighter than before. “Well, what'd he do?”

 

Nell frowned, looking out the window. “He was... well, he was showing me how to bow. I was doing it wrong, so he moved me to do it the right way. Then I heard this humming noise, and I asked 'what's that noise?' and he explained and... he...uh.” she mumbled the other part, her insides feeling warm.

 

Sari smiled. “Yeah?”

 

Nell blushed, “He held me up to... hear it better.”

 

“Squee!” the techno-teen made this very strange noise, and bounced in the driver seat, “Ohmygod no way!” she was grinning like a fool, and Nell looked as red as the fire truck she was in.

 

Nell's light amber eyes went wide, eyebrows askew to show her confusion. “Uh... Optimus, why is she squealing?”

 

The red and blue Prime was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Nell had said. “Uhm, well, Nellie, normally when a bot does that, it's to show someone that they're... protected. If there's an upset sparkling, sometimes letting them listen to a Spark pulse can calm them. But since you're not an upset sparkling, Prowl wanted you to know you're safe with him, that he trusts you as a friend, I'm guessing.”

 

“...eep.” the woman made a small, embarrassed noise. “H-he could have just told me that... probably would have giggled, though.” she felt like a moron, and a few surviving butterflies decided to wiggle in the pit of her stomach.

 

“Yeah? Well, Prowl's not one of those bots who just... _lets_ people listen.”

 

Optimus broke in, “Few are... unless they're a Pleasure bot.” he mumbled, sounding more than a little uncomfortable.

 

“You have hookers on Cybertron?” Nell asked, making Sari laugh. “Just asking, Sari... left here, Optimus.” she muttered, pointing half heartedly. “Could you... roll down your window?” Sari patted the steering wheel with her exposed hand, and the window went down. Nell smiled, “Thanks... it's the next right.” the woman thought for a minute, and sat up. “You know what I don't get about him, though? I don't know how he can put up with me like he does.” she rolled on her side, looking at the red haired techno-teen.

 

“Nellie, you really aren't the terror you think you are. You know that, right?” Optimus asked quietly, taking the turn that started the long gravel driveway.

 

She smiled. “I know, but I ask too many questions.”

 

“Questions are a part of getting to know someone.”

 

Sari giggled, “You didn't ask him anything silly... like 'plug or port', right?”

 

Optimus tapped his breaks, and continued a little faster down the driveway. “You, uh, you have a long driveway, Nellie.”

 

The woman patted his armrest. “Yes, that I do. The gravel makes it harder for people to sneak onto the property. People try to steal horses, so I do what I can...”

 

Sari grinned in the dark. “So... what did you do?”

 

Nell looked at her feet, and played with the hem of her shirt. “We were talking a few days ago, and he told me some bits about self defense. He said faceplates were sensitive. So I asked for proof... one thing lead to another and, hehe, I tried to... kiss him.”

 

“EEE! So, what'd _he_ do?”

 

The woman frowned. “Nothing.”

 

“Nothing?” Optimus asked quietly.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Nothing?” Sari asked, eyes wide and eyebrows up.

 

Nell shook her head, frowning. “Not a thing.” she ruffled her hair. “I don't think I'll ever get robots. No offense, Optimus.”

 

“I don't blame you, Nellie. Prowl is... pretty complicated. You give him time, though, he'll come around. He's a friendly bot to know, you just have to let him go at his own pace.” he said as he pulled up to the barn. He opened his door, and Nell wiggled her way to the ground. “Have a good day, Nellie.”

 

Sari waved, “Bye, Nellie!”

 

The woman waved over her shoulder, and the two drove off.

 

Optimus spoke up after a minute or two. “Well, that was an... interesting conversation.”

 

“Yep.” The techno-teen said, snuggling into the seat. Sari grinned devilishly, and looked at herself in the rear view mirror. “Hey, Optimus?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“...plug or port?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slowly walks into the void with open arms*


	24. Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The platinum blond with titanium faith is tested... a lot.

Chapter Twenty Four: Faith

 

_See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences? ~ Signs_

 

**X**

 

Upon Megatron's orders to break the human Cole's faith in a higher power, Shockwave was a bit taken aback. Just a little. He was a strong believer in Primus and the sacred writings of the Allspark, but he was trying to break _human_ faith in a _humans_ god. It could be done, in fact it seemed almost too easy. He had looked at the 'argument' from all angles, and came to an interesting conclusion. When it came to God, humans were either infuriatingly cynical or damningly optimistic.

 

He did research. Shockwave did research on every single human religion that had surfaced. Everything from the ones that were long dead to the ones taking over, to the ones that didn't seem to fit the basic profile of a religion. Cults, for one, were not too new to him. Cybertron was 'known' for having lunatics running about. He was considered one of them, for some reason.

 

This would be 'fun', so to speak. All that was left to do was wait for an opportune time to start. The human had the habit of praying before curling up in the hammock. He didn't sleep well, and the Decepticon could see why. Cole was still getting used to his new 'home'. He'd have to do so soon, Megatron wasn't the most patient bot known, and Cole wasn't going home any time soon.

 

The only thing Shockwave had to do was wait for a good time to start. Doing such a thing randomly would raise suspicion. He had to make a difficult thing with humans a nonchalant thing that may very well cause Cole emotional harm. That was the plan, though. Break the human's faith to make him a willing puppet. Why Megatron wanted a _human_ puppet wasn't quite clear. The Autobots were rather fond of the creatures, and seeing one that was broken to The Decepticon Overlord's liking could give the Decepticons the upper hand.

 

“Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come-”

 

“What are you doing?” and so, it had begun.

 

Cole blinked up at him, hands still pressed together, rosary entwined with his thin fingers. “I'm praying.”

 

“You're what?” playing dumb. Nothing new.

 

“Pray-ing. People do it as a way of talking to God.”

 

Shockwave whirred. “You believe in a god?”

 

The blond folded his hands, head cocked, “You... don't?”

 

“No, I don't. It has no logic behind it,” he said, deadpan. Having to play the part of Autobot Prime and Decepticon spy had made him an expert liar, as well as an actor. Long before meeting Megatron, he had been an actor, and a fine one at that. Playing the part of 'atheist' was easy compared to accent switching, data keeping, shape shifting, cover-upping... cover-upping? That didn't even seem like a word. Oh well, it suited him.

 

Cole snorted, “You sound like Mattie when you talk like that. Logic can't solve everything.”

 

“Do I now?” the double agent said, optic glowing.

 

The blond nodded. “Yeah, she lost faith in God. That's... kinda the reason I was out when that German guy grabbed me.”

 

German guy... oh, right. “You mean Blitzwing, correct?”

 

“Is he the German guy?”

 

“I suppose so,” he saw Blitzwing as the triple changer, not the 'German Guy', but if that was how the human recognized him, it would work.

 

“Then I mean Blitzwing,” Cole said, smiling.

 

Shockwave's optic glowed a bit, and he leaned down to get a better look at the human. “You confuse me.” good, the plan was working. He had the humans interest, and he had caught him at an opportune time, too. A tired creature wasn't always willing to put up a fight. Fights could be fun, though, but not for this.

 

The blond squinted, “Do not. Really?”

 

“it may come as a shock to you,” the teal and gray shapeshifter grabbed the chair across the room, and sat, one leg crossed over the other, claws laced over his knee and optic half open. “But you _do_ confuse me.”

 

Him? Confusing a robot? A robot that seemed to be extremely intelligent and a little arrogant? A robot that could shift shape and -for no reason _he_ understood- had a British accent? “Okay, how?”

 

“By having a god.” he said flatly.

 

“What? How the hell is having a god confusing?”

 

Shockwave shuttered his optic, and spoke lowly, “Because, human, there is no _logic_ behind a higher power.” this was going the same way his argument with his creator did. Accept this time, he was the one poking holes in everything, and Cole was the one defending his beliefs. The wee squishy was actually doing a good job, but he would have to fight harder to keep his faith intact.

 

Cole blinked, and stood up in the tank. “There is no up with out a down, nor dark without a light, nor a God without a Devil.” he then frowned, coiling a tuft of hair around a finger. It was a nervous habit that he thought he had control of. “My sister told me that a really long time ago, and she's right. There can't be one thing without the other, opposites have to exist for things to... sort of try and work.” he had gone off on a tangent, he knew it. Why did it scare him that Shockwave didn't blink? He didn't even move, all the robot did was _stare!_

 

Shockwave thought for a moment, and shifted to lean back in his seat, lacing his sharp fingers to rest over his slender stomach. “Perhaps there is only luck and those who get lucky. Coincidence, chance, pure, unalterable happenstance. There is a possibility that there is nothing beyond death but the dark. Perhaps, human, your god is nothing more than a way of controlling the masses, in a feeble attempt to keep them in line.” cults seemed to have a handle on that last part, often to a terrifying degree.

 

Cole blinked and shrugged. “Maybe you're right.”

 

The double agent leaned forward, head only slightly cocked. “What if I _am_ right about there being no Higher Power? What should happen then, if there truly is nothing?”

 

Cole shrugged. “If you're right, you're right, and if you're wrong, you have some explaining to do, I guess.” he frowned, arms crossed, “I don't think that God's a mean one. Who can create life and not care about it if it questions things? Well, other than my mom, I mean.”

 

Shockwave tapped two of his claws together, thinking. “What if you are correct about there being a higher power, and that power is not as all loving as you have been lead to believe? What if this God is a monster who only likes to torment his... little followers?”

 

“Then I'm going to hell, I guess,”

 

“And you're fine with that? The possibility that you could go to...” he looked up exactly what 'Hell' was said to be, and whirred quietly. Human religion was somewhat confusing, and in some cases extreme. “A fiery lake ruled by an eternally enraged fallen angel, who's soul purpose is to mislead and torment?”

 

The human frowned. “If I do go to hell, that will be awful, but I don't know that that's what's going to happen. Besides, if God didn't _want_ you, why would he _MAKE_ you?”

 

The Decepticon beeped, and whirred. “What?”

 

“Here's my deal, okay? I was born Catholic, and my mom pressed me into doing things that... didn't make sense. I took the lessons, read the bible, sang His praises, thought God loved me like everyone said. Then I realize I don't like girls, I like boys. That means I'm gay. According to the bible men can't be with men. According to the Priest, the bible is God's word. I don't, can't, believe that God would make us to be different if he didn't _want_ us to be different. So,” he stretched, “I still believe in God, but reread the bible, and I saw the same things my sister did that made her question things. I still believe, but not all of it makes sense. That is how it works for me.”

 

The shapeshifter cocked his head. “Just what happened to your sister?” the female, Nell, had been brought up a lot in this odd, delicate conversation.

 

The human looked sad at that, “She says there isn't a god. That when you die, you're worm chow, and that the planet uses you to continue life. You're nothing but animated meat, waiting to be fertilizer.” his eyes grew big, “But that's no way to see yourself,”

 

The antlered bot agreed, but he said nothing to that effect. “If that is her way of seeing life, and your way of seeing life is different, I can understand the conflict.”

 

Cole huffed, “Right, you agree with her I bet.”

 

“I am not organic, so I don't agree on becoming... fertilizer.”

 

“Right, right...” the blond waved him off, and headed for the hammock. “You wanna talk to me about God? Let's wait until morning.”

 

“It is morning now, if you are so curious of the time.”

 

The human blinked, eyes huge. “What?” then more to himself, “Man, my sleep time is really off,” he looked up at his shape shifting care taker. “What time is it, then?”

 

“Exactly four AM.”

 

“Holy crap.”

 

Shockwave scoffed, and stood tall, placing the chair back under the large work table. “In this, I agree. Holy crap, indeed. Recharge, I will discuss this with you and Lord Megatron later.”

 

He heard Cole suck in a breath, and his voice shuddered. “Megatron?”

 

The slender deceiver nodded. “Yes. He will want to know about this,”

 

“Uh...” the human backed up into the hammock, curling up in an instinctual need to hide. “Okay...”

 

“Your fear of Lord Megatron is well founded, but not necessary. He has no reason to cause you physical harm. Try to keep it that way.” that last statement was anything but a threat. He was simply giving the human a bit of advice. The human said nothing, and he left him alone. Then, a minute later,

 

“...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven...”

 

Shockwave sighed quietly, and scribbled notes on a blank data pad. Cole was praying, right where he left off. He hadn't changed a thing.

 

**X**

 

When Cole awoke, whatever time it was, he saw that Shockwave was no longer in the room. That didn't worry him, but what did worry him were the two robots standing in the room. One was massive, purple and green, with a very loud voice. The other was one of the bots who abducted him. There were three of them, all German, but only the one was in the room. Where were the other two? They always sounded close to each other when he'd hear them outside Shockwave's room.

 

The blond half fell out of the hammock, and wobbled to the tank wall. There they were, in the dark room. He waved, unsure of what would happen. The tan and purple bot waved back at him, face black and red, with dagger teeth and a crazy smile, seemingly permanent. Cole gulped, and back up as the crazy robot that abducted him pranced over to the tank, looking way too happy to see him, black hands against the barrier. Oh, crap.

 

Blitzwing grinned down at the human. Random Blitzwing loved humans! Especially when they were scared. Icy was curious about them, and Angry... well, he was interested in shooting them. “Ooh! I vant to play with ze human! Can I? Can I? CAN I? Bwahahahah!” the triple-changer said, before a large, green crab claw of a hand collided with his head, sending him sprawling-but still smiling- to the floor.

 

“You will not interfere with the great and powerful Megatron's plans! The human is not to be handled by you.” said Lugnut, as loud as ever. Cole winced at the bots loud voice.

 

The tan and purple bot stood up, face now red and visored, and yelled an inch from Lugnut's face plate, “Try zhat again, you copper clad klutz!” and with that, Lugnut did, sending Blitzwing to the floor yet again.

 

“Th-Th-they're all the same!” Cole shrieked, scooting away. Blitzwing staggered to his feet, spun his face, and a blue face, with a large, circular optic beside a normal optic, looked down at him. “All the... s-same robot.”

 

“Yes, did you not know zhat?” the tan and purple bot asked, round optic staying open as he blinked.

 

He shook his head no, eyes big. “N-no, I didn't.”

 

Icy Blitzwing blinked, hardly smiling. “Well, I am the triple-changer Blitzwing, meaning I, who you are speaking to, am just one of three personalities, sharing a body.” his face spun, and Random Blitzwing cackled down at him, “I'm a triple-changer? Ohohoho! I didn't know zhat! That's easy to remember, even for me! Bwahaha!” and he was off and out of the room. The big one, Lugnut, stayed, staring at him with an unblinking optic.

 

“Uh... hi?” Cole squeaked, curling up when the massive bot did nothing but stare. Apparently, this bot had five optics. One, large one in front, two on both sides of his head. He didn't have much of a face, really, just a large, snapping jaw. Cole blinked, and tried again. “What's your name?”

 

Lugnut growled, “That is none of your concern, fleshling.” he said, pointing at him with a massive claw.

 

“Uh... okay then.” he settled, uncomfortable, as the large, and nameless robot, stared at him. Oh great, first, Mattie had that jerk Sentinel to deal with, now this guy was calling _him_ names. The door, which he had not realized had closed, opened, and in stepped a silver and red robot, with a gun on his right arm, and twin swords on his back. “Oh, God...” there was Megatron, looking down at him with an irritated, though not angry, frown. Cole curled into himself, once more trying to hide. “No... no.”

 

Megatron rumbled quietly, and turned slowly to Lugnut. “Lugnut, why is the human cowering?”

 

“Your magnificent presence, my liege, intimidates him.” the robot, now with the name Lugnut, said, eager to state the obvious.

 

He smirked at that. “So I see,” he walked with careful, long strides, toward the tank, and grabbed the human with one hand. It could almost fit around him, but not quite. Good. Humans weren't alright with being squeezed. They tended to pop and offline when squeezed to hard. Cole squealed, and further curled into himself. “I only wish to speak with you. No need to cower, human,” he said quietly, leaving the room.

 

The blond did the smart thing, and stayed curled. Megatron's hand stayed firm and close to his body. He didn't look at the human as he walked to his quarters. There was a tank, not quite half the size of the one in Shockwave's quarters, but still large enough for the him. He set the human down, watching him uncurl when he was set at the bottom of the tank. Cole backed into a far corner, eyes on the floor.

 

After a moment of silence, Megatron spoke. “What is so interesting about the floor, human?” he asked, voice even.

 

“Eep!” the blond made a strange noise, and looked up at him, only to place his his gaze back on the floor at making eye contact. Why did Megatron scare him so much? Sure, he was the one that had given the order to abduct him. Cole wasn't stupid, he knew who was the boss in this weird cave thing. But Megatron hadn't injured him or given a known order to harm him, so... he must be planning. That didn't help his fear.

 

The silver bot chuckled quietly, a low, almost cough. “I would like to speak with you, human.”

 

He looked up, still staying down. “Uh... w-what about, sir?”

 

Megatron blinked, and placed a data pad in the tank. Sir? That was a new one, and not one he was exactly fond of. He held back a sigh of frustration when Cole pressed himself into the corner again. The silver hellion pointed down at the data pad, frowning. “This is the first chapter of the sacred Allspark writings. There are exactly forty six chapters. I had Shockwave translate them from our native tongue into your own,” a simple feat, of course. Cole's 'education' wasn't what he wanted, though.

 

“Why?” the teen squeaked.

 

Megatron didn't move. “For you to read. I want you further educated on our system of belief, as we already know so much about your own,” he said quietly, gaze drifting to the rosary dangling around Cole's neck. Such a useless item.

 

“Uh... o-okay,” he crept forward, staying on all fours, and sat in front of the pad. It was half his size, maybe the length of his leg. There was what looked like a scroll bar on the side, and he touched it. The text barely moved. “Wow... that's... a lot.” he pointed at the pad, brows raised. “You sure you want me to read all this...?”

 

Megatron said nothing, but sat in his throne, data pad and stylus in hand. He had his own work to do. Speeches did not write themselves, after all. He would glance up at Cole, finding him still hunched over the data pad every time. He was interested, which was what he had wanted. So, the plan was falling into place.

 

Cole read the last bit of text quietly to himself, “-and the brother brought forth from the light encased his brother brought forth from the dark within a form of metal, bringing the same fate upon himself to protect his few children, while the brothers were flung to opposing sides of the galaxy.” he blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the silver and red robot across the room. “Okay... okay. Uh... I'm done, sir.”

 

Megatron's hand paused from it's work. It had been well over two hours since the teenager had begun. He set the data pad and stylus in his lap, optics scrutinizing the young male staring at him. A second or so of that, and the teen looked away. “Are you?”

 

“Uh... yes.”

 

“Well, then, what do you think?” he said slowly, arms crossed.

 

The human took a deep breath, and said, “So... what this is telling me is that God is a massive _robot_ called Primus, and that he is also the planet you are from. Then, this tells me that your god has a brother, Unicron, who is an even _bigger_ robot than him, who eats planets in order to survive, and is essentially your version of Satan?”

 

“Exactly,” Megatron said, smirking. Though many believed it to be true that they walked on the surface of Primus himself, many Cybertronian scholars found the basis of their religion to be flimsy at best, and many bots found it to be false. The human couldn't think that his idea of a god was possible, if such a superior race as his own had doubts.

 

“...cool. What else can you teach me? I want to know more about Primus and Unicron. Is... that okay?”

 

It was official. The humans faith was unshakable.

 


	25. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got a rock.

Chapter Twenty Five: Gift.

 

_A rock offered by a friend is like an apple. ~ Sicilian proverb._

 

**X**

 

High in the sky sat the Moon, keeping its two, odd residents hidden on its dark side. Sarah, the human, was sleeping. Starscream, the rather nutty seeker who had taken her off of Earth, was busy. What the sleeping squishy didn't know was that something had made the ship's gravity malfunction. That is, until she woke up to bumping her head... on the ceiling.

 

Naturally, confusion ensued.

 

“Whoa! What the hell!” the teen yelled, flipping slowly in the air. What was going on? Was she dreaming? “Starscream! What's going on? Get me down!” she yelled, colliding with a wall with a resounding thud. “Oof! Hey...” she then pushed off the wall, did an accidental back flip, and hit another wall. “Ah!” with that, the wee squishy rolled end over end in mid air, limbs flailing in an attempt to stop her unplanned flight down the purple corridor. “Crap!”

 

“Huh?” the seeker looked behind him, but saw nothing. He thought he had heard Sarah, but... no. She wasn't awake at this time. “Hmm... lets try this wire...” he pinched a green wire between two claw tips in one hand, a purple wire in the other. Of all the things he knew, ship repair wasn't one of his top subjects. Oh well, trial and error would have to do. “And...” when he touched the two wires, the alarm system sounded, honking and flashing red and white strobe lights. He pulled them apart with a grimace. “Okay... won't try _that_ one again. Lets try yellow, then...”

 

“AHH!” the human was still floating, and had slowed down some. The flailing didn't work so well, but it was worth a try. She grabbed her ears at the sudden blaring alarm, and managed to slow down somewhat. She was still spinning like a top, and was getting pretty dizzy. She somersaulted a few times, before crashing hard into a familiar set of wings. “Holy crap...” she panted.

 

The seeker turned sharply at the sudden impact, and looked rather confusedly at Sarah. She was clutching his wingtip for dear life. “Hello, Sarah... what are you doing over there?” he paused from his work, and reached toward the human, snagging her shirt on a claw. He pulled her over, and put his hands behind her, giving a crooked frown as she floated into them.

 

“Gah!” Sarah tried to talk, but her heart was pounding, adrenaline rushing through her veins. “The hell is going on? I just went through human pinball for twenty minutes!”

 

“Hmm...” the seeker turned Sarah carefully in his hands, ever mindful of his claws. “I don't see any damage. Do you feel anything odd, female?” he said, optics half open. He wasn't happy that the tank hadn't kept her down, but she was alright. She looked madder than hell, but alright. He rubbed his thumb claw idly on her stomach.

 

Dammit, he was back to calling her female. Oh well. Why the hell was he petting her? “Just sore. Why's the gravity off, anyway?”

 

Starscream smirked, and carefully released the human, letting her float out of his grasp. She flailed a bit, glaring angrily at him for letting her go. “If you use your arms to steer, and just use your legs to move, you won't crash into things so easily. Think you can manage that, or am I going too fast?” he said, grinning as she did so, stopping upside down. Her arms swirled, and her legs kicked. She was upright and floating, glaring at him yet again.

 

“Ah, well done, female. Now then, the gravity...this ship crash landed a long time ago. I never _have_ had a knack for parking,” he said, smiling. He touched wires together, sparks flying at the contact. The lights went out, and he tried again, light returning to the ship. “Slaggit... I've been trying to fix this little issue for a while now,”

 

“Really? Huh...” she said, leaning to one side to get a better look, therefore tipping over and floating in front of him. “Whoa! Whoa! OhmyGAWD not again!” she flailed, and felt a familiar hand grab her leg.

 

The magenta seeker pulled her back over, and set her on his shoulder, grinning. “Don't run off, now,”

 

“Shut up...” Sarah huffed, glaring, and sat, gripping the edges of his shoulder plate. It was so weird, to have everything floating around. Her hair floated in every direction, annoying her to no end. It tickled her face and blocked her view in a mess of greasy strands. Starscream was probably used to floating, if not flying. She watched him work. If this ever happened again, she wanted to remember what fixed the gravity. He touched two red wires together, and nothing happened.

 

“Not _that_ combination,” he said, frowning.

 

“Just how many combinations are there?” she said, swatting at her floating hair.

 

He looked at her, pausing from his work. “Well, there are twenty two wires in all. If you multiply that by itself, you have the exact number.”

 

She blinked, frowning. “That's... okay, twenty times ten... okay, uh... then that by ten...uh, wait a minute,” the female counted off on her fingers. She was good at math, but not to the point she could do numbers like that in her head. She was glad for fingers. “Almost five hundred combinations! Holy shit, where do you get the patience to do that?”

 

He shrugged, making her rise up with an 'eep!'. He looked at her, giving his typical cocky smirk. It was strangely nice to have her cling to him that way. “I've already gone through forty nine of them... and with this,” he said, touching two green wires to have nothing happen yet again, “makes fifty.”

 

“Damn...” she crossed her arms, and let herself float, “We're gonna be here all day, aren't we?”

 

He smiled as she floated over his head. She was having fun, now that she wasn't on a collision course with... everything in sight.“Well, _I_ might. I plan to put you back in your tank, though,”

 

The human frowned, leaning down to grab his helm crests, her thin frame resting between them. “Why?”

 

The seeker frowned, grabbing a white wire and a green wire, glancing upwards at the female on his head. He couldn't see her, but he looked anyway. “I can't have you floating at my height when the gravity comes on, my dear, or even at half my height...” he blinked, and smirked. “You could break your neck, and we wouldn't want that, now would we?” he'd heard humans break bones before. The sound didn't bother him in the least. For some reason, some strange, tickling reason in the back of his processor, the idea of Sarah snapping her neck upset him.

 

He felt her pulse quicken, and her grip tightened as she pressed herself to him. “Although... if you were to stay put... you wouldn't be... in any real danger.” he muttered, feeling a little too happy to have her up there. He touched the two wires together, and then from the speakers came-

 

_**CONFUTATIS MALEDICTIS!** _

_**CONFUTATIS MALEDICTIS!** _

**TRAGEDY STORMS HIM**

**WHEN DEMONS SPARE HER LIFE!**

**AND ALL DISCOVER**

**SHE HAS A DEMON HEART!**

_**DEMON HEART!** _

 

“AHH!” Sarah yelled, covering her ears. Once again, she floated away. The seeker undid the wires, and, once again, grabbed the human. She looked red, which was a little strange. What did it mean for humans when their face turned red?

 

“Uhm...” he set her back on his head, and went back to trying to fix gravity. Who knew gravity could be broken in the first place?

 

**X**

 

Within the Autobot 'base', Prowl was thinking. Optimus and Ultra Magnus discussed Sentinel Prime's behavior. They had read the report Jazz had taken, discussed the incident in further detail, and spoke with all involved. Ratchet gave the a medical report, and he gave them the details of what happened prior to Nell leaving his room. The way Ultra Magnus looked at him when he talked about bowing and spark sounds annoyed him. Nell was curious, and he satisfied her curiosity.

 

Apparently, humans being curious about such things as sparks was 'frowned upon' by him. That bot could frown at it all he liked. Prowl saw nothing wrong with what he had done. The reigning Magnus did, though, and it effected how Sentinel's 'punishment' was handled. Assuming that humans were more prone to provoking Autobots and lying after listening to someone's spark, the verdict was given.

 

A day in the brig. That was it. For hurting a human over such an idiotic subject as who was in the hallway first, Sentinel Prime received one slagging day in the brig. There were times that Prowl hated the Autobot system. It was biased and flimsy, despite what people said. Primes received special treatment, and lesser bots- and sadly, species- were pushed aside.

 

After much meditation, he decided he'd need help with this. Maybe that was why he approached Sari about it. And, maybe, just maybe, dropping to the couch from the crane was a less than wise choice. Too late now.

 

“Gah!” she said, blinking. Prowl merely cocked his head, feet planted on the arm of the couch, hands between them in a cat like crouch. “Prowl, jeez, you scared me there...”

 

He bent down a bit, mouth a flat line. “I need your help, Sari.”

 

She blinked, turning down the TV. “Really? With what?”

 

“I want to do something for Nell,” he said quietly.

 

Sari grinned. “Like what?”

 

“That's the problem. I don't know.”

 

“You... don't know?”

 

He shrugged, mouth off to the side. “I don't know what to do. I want to _do_ something for her, but I'm... rather new at this.” he felt embarrassed, asking for help with something that should be so simple.

 

“Aw!” the techno-teen said, earning a frown from the ninja bot. “Oh, sorry. Why do you want to do something for Nellie?”

 

Prowl thought about it, voice lowered as he spoke, “After what Sentinel did to her, she had to return home. His punishment was lessened because of something I did. She was in that situation because of something I did. I want to make it up to her, and I would like your help with how.”

 

Sari blinked, raising an eyebrow. “You didn't do anything wrong, though. Ultra Magnus is...” she looked around, leaned closer, and whispered, “He's an old fart! He still looks at me funny when I'm near by. Like I'm a time bomb or something.”

 

He frowned, “You are not a time bomb.”

 

“I know, he's weird, but anyway, how can I help?” she said, smiling brightly, eyes glowing a bit.

 

Prowl adjusted to sit on the arm of the couch, right foot on the arm, left leg dangling. “What does Nell like?”

 

The red haired techno-teen giggled. “She likes a lot, silly. Horses, antiques, markets, auctions, chains, card games, birds... okay, really, she loves Emus. I don't know _why_ , they're really creepy and mean.”

 

“An Emu?” the dark bot said. He looked up the creature, and beeped. “I doubt that I could carry an Emu, Sari.”

 

She giggled, doubling over, mismatched hands over her mouth. “You're not giving her an Emu!” she then cracked up, laughing into her knees. “Where would you _get_ an Emu? Hahahaaa!”

 

Optimus looked over from an old data pad, confused. “What about an Emu?”

 

Prowl looked over at him, giving a confused shrug. “I'm not sure. Perhaps you can help, seeing that Sari is... busy.” he glanced down at the teen

 

“I can try,” Optimus said, setting the data pad down. It was an old file from a few years ago. He was simply going over it because he didn't have anything to do. Ultra Magnus was busy giving Sentinel a 'stern talking to', which would do nothing but give the dark blue Prime something to gripe about.

 

Prowl frowned. “I want to do something for Nell, to make up for what happened the last time she was here.”

 

“Oh, really? That's not like you, Prowl.” the red and blue Prime said, smiling.

 

The ninja bot slid off the couch, hands on hips. “I merely feel I have to, Prime”

 

Sari, seeming to recover from her giggle fit, sat up. “Nellie likes _you_ , too, Prowl.” she smiled, and pointed with her exposed hand, “Maybe we can put a bow on you,”

 

The ninja bot chirruped. “That would make it difficult to drive,”

 

Optimus looked at the teen, mouth small. “It would.” he looked back at Prowl. “Why not ask her yourself?”

 

Sari sighed, “No way, big guy, that'll take the surprise away.”

 

“Who said he was trying to surprise her?” he said, crossing his arms.

 

“Nellie likes them, duh!” the red head said, giggling.

 

“She does...” Prowl said, more to himself than to them. They weren't really listening. Prowl looked at the two, and slipped out of the room. He decided to try Bulkhead. The green bot might have some ideas. He was a creative bot when it came to gifts and ideas.

 

**X**

 

Bulkhead only had one rule when people came into his quarters. A simple rule that Prowl made sure to follow. Bulkhead had a door made of plywood and foam to help block out the city traffic. Knock hard was the rule. Knock _hard_. “Hello, Bulkhead? It's Prowl.”

 

There was some shuffling, then the loud footsteps that he could feel, then the call, “Come in!” with some force -it was a heavy door- the slender bot entered the room. There was a large canvas that was in the middle of being painted.

 

“I didn't interrupt anything important, did I?” he asked, cocking his head at the picture. It looked like a white sun being eclipsed by a huge spaceship of some kind. “Interesting...”

 

Bulkhead looked down at him, shrugging carefully. “Nah, just some thing. Heard a weird song the other day about some book called enigma. Talked about a prophet and some sort of eclipse, so I'm just doing what I thought the guy saw. Whadaya need?”

 

“I want to give Nell something.”

 

“Oh! Uh... I'm not really good with that stuff, why don't you go ask Sari? She knows Nellie a lot better than me.”

 

“She's... busy at the moment. I was wondering if you could help.”

 

Bulkhead set down his brush, looking down at the far smaller bot. “I can try. How hard can it be?” he chirruped, and squinted. “This got anything to do with Sentinel?”

 

He nodded, visor pinched a tad in the center. “His punishment was lightened because of something illogical.” spark sounds did _not_ make humans lie.

 

Bulkhead nodded, seeming to frown. “I heard about it from Ratchet. Ridiculous is what it is,” the green bot placed a large hand to his chin, and stood up, walking to a corner of the packed room. “Gimme a click, mkay?” he then moved some old crates around, mumbling to himself.

 

Prowl nodded, and looked around the room. The entire back wall was packed with canvases, jammed tight and to the ceiling. Some works he could easily identify as fellow bots. Bulkhead tended to flip-flop from abstract to realistic, though it could be hard to tell which he was working with at times. The large canvas he was working was one of those pieces where Prowl _really_ could not tell.

 

“If I know Nellie at _all_ , and I kinda hope I do, she likes surprises.” he said, picking up the large box with one clawed hand, gesturing at it with the other. “Nothin' fancy or big, somethin' small and nice. She's pretty shy about that stuff.” he set the box in front of the ninja bot, smiling. “There's a lot of stuff in there. Just things I found outside that looked like they'd make a cool mobile or something.” he sat back in front of his painting, picking up where he left off. “Go on and look, there's gotta be something in there.”

 

Prowl walked to the box, and got to one knee to search through. Bulkhead had been right, there were some interesting things inside. Robins egg shells, wasps nests, feathers, part of a snake skin, and, to his surprise, a rabbit skull with no jaw. He highly doubted Nell would want a skull. He didn't want to know why Bulkhead had a skull in the first place. Behind it, though, he found a dull, gray rock. It was lumpy, and the size of a baseball. The bot picked it up carefully, and showed it to the green behemoth. “What is this?”

 

The green bot looked up from the canvas, and grinned. “Oh, that? It's a geode. I can't remember where I go it, but I never cracked it open. You can give her that if you wanna.”

 

“Ah...” he looked into what a 'geode' was, and smiled. “I think Nell will like it.”

 

“Comin' from you? Course she will.” the larger bot said, plopping back in front of the canvas. “Good luck.” instead of working on the painting, though, he pulled out a large sheet of paper and novelty pencil. He still had the tracker to design. Sari could build it, no problem at all. They were easy to make, but they had to be the right size to fit a human. Too big and they couldn't fit it in a needle. Too small, and it couldn't send a signal more than ten feet out. He had some work to do.

 

“Thank you, Bulkhead. Good luck with your paintings.” with that, Prowl headed out of the room, ready to visit Nell. It had been a week. He didn't want her to think he was avoiding her.

 

**X**

 

Prowl drove down the driveway, transforming in front of the barn. He had seen Nell working with... which horse was that? “Hello, Nell.” he said, standing in the entryway of the barn. He had the geode behind his back, held in one hand. He had it in his hand when he transformed. He had no where else to put it, truth be told.

 

“Hey, Prowl.” she turned to him, smiling. Prowl's mouth tightened, going flat. Her collarbone was exposed and ugly, covered in purple and yellow bruises the size of bricks. The ninja bot winced, but it went unnoticed. He felt an odd need to touch them, but he pushed it away. “Been a few days since you've been by. Anything wrong at the plant?”

 

He shook his head, “No, nothing is wrong. There was something I had to take care of. It took longer than I thought,” he found himself looking back at the bruises.

 

The woman blinked. “Okay then.” she went back to brushing Rosanna. The mare kept looking at him with uncertainty, ears folded back. “Don't mind Rosanna, she's like that. Someone broke my fence, and it scared the crap out of my horses. Didn't get a good look at the guy, but he was big and fast...” she blinked, and looked up at him. “It was a truck, not a bot. It was dark out, too, so I'm S.O.L when it comes to what color it was,”

 

The ninja bots visor narrowed. “It wasn't a snow plow, was it?” the thought of Sentinel going near Nell, and doing something like wrecking her fence made him curl his free hand into a loose fist. Anger controlled, always controlled.

 

Now Nell looked confused. “Uh... no? I doubt it. There's no snow around here...” the woman blinked, and cocked her head. “What do you have behind your back?” she crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

 

He held out the geode as she stepped close. “The other day... I wanted to make it up to you.”

 

“You didn't have to do that!” she squeaked. He had never heard her make that kind of noise. He smiled. The mare behind the human snorted. “Oh, hush.”

 

“I felt I had to.” he said, setting it in her

 

“Well, thank you, Prowl.” she smiled. “Uh... what is it?”

 

He chuckled. “It's a geode. I thought we could open it together.”

 

She blinked at him. “How? I'm... not good at cracking things. Why don't we look at it at the same time. First people to see the inside of a geode?” Nell smiled. “That's something special.”

 

The ninja bot thought about it, and got to one knee. “I have an idea.” he said.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Why don't you hold the geode, and I will crack it. That way, we can look at the same time.” he saw her fingertips twitch. That would mean she would be near his shuriken blade. Part of him wanted to try and help her get past her fear of blades. “I will be careful, I promise.”

 

Her cheeks flushed with a little pink, and she smirked. “If you say so,” she put her hands carefully around the rock. She frowned a little, looking down. Prowl looked at her hands, and saw why. For a woman, her hands were large. Maybe it was the small cuts they wore that she frowned at. It made more sense to him to frown at cuts than hand size.

 

He took out a shuriken, ready for her flinch, and held it over the funny rock. “Are you ready?”

 

She nodded, and shut her eyes. Prowl held an arm over his visor, and brought the tip of the blade down, hearing a crack, feeling the flinch from Nell's hands. He folded the weapon away, and lowered his arm.

 

Nell looked up at him, and pulled her hands away. The rock fell open into two parts, one larger than the other. The inside glittered a smoky gray and indigo, tiny and large crystals peeking out.

 

“It's beautiful, Prowl...” Nell mumbled, holding it up to show him.

 

“It is...” he said softly, smiling more at her than the rock. He'd have to give Bulkhead a real thank you when he got back to the plant. This was a great idea.

 

The woman thought a bit, and cocked her head at him. “How about you keep one half, and I'll keep the other?” she said, smiling as she handed him the larger part of the rock. “That okay with you?”

 

He smiled, and nodded, taking the part carefully. “More than okay, Nell.” his fingertips brushed hers, and his spark hummed a little louder than before, but he didn't pay it any mind.

 

**X**

 

“There we are, Sarah. It took two hours and three hundred and sixty tries, but the gravity is back.” the seeker said to the human on his head. She said nothing as he landed on his high heeled feet. “You awake up there?” feeling her squirm around and try to hug him was odd, but he grinned, and walked forward. “Seems someone was bored. I don't blame you, my dear. This was rather dull,”

 

“Mer....” the human made a noise, and rolled over, falling off the seeker's ridged helm.

 

“Gah!” Starscream grabbed her before she hit his shoulder plating. “Don't _do_ that, human. I said I _don't_ want you to break your neck!”

 

She looked up at him, and blinked groggily. “Bah... whatever...” she curled into a ball to try and fall back asleep. Her left arm dangled between his thumb and wrist. Her legs dangled between his fingers.

 

“Quiet, we're almost to the tank. You won't be floating around this time, though. Would you like that, female?” she did nothing, and he set her on the tank floor. She growled, and dove under the thick blanket. She didn't come out. “Are you asleep that fast?” he muttered. He shrugged, and turned away. He had some work to do, in a sense.

 

“Now...” he said, staring at the ceiling, “where is it you wanted to go?” the seeker thought back to the conversation that day, sitting in front of the monitor. The first time she went on a flight inside him, she screamed and swore, but he could tell she had fun. He was convinced that she would vomit in him, but she didn't, and he was happy. “Canyon... _which_ canyon? Your primitive little planet has a hundred canyons...” the magenta seeker frowned in thought.

 

“ _Uh... the Ouimet Canyons... up in Ontario. I went there when I was a kid, and I'd like it if we could go... you'd... uh...”_

 

“ _Yes?”_

 

“ _You'd like it.”_

 

Starscream chuckled, “Right, the Ouimet Canyons...” he searched, and found the strange yet interesting sounding place. “Oh my... it will take a few days for things to line up. About six, if my math is right, which it is, of course. Oh well. Time is nothing. I can wait,” he glanced over at Sarah in her tank, and frowned. “can you, Sarah?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> careful guys, shit's gettin heavy next chapter.


	26. Paranoia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Food deprivation as a form of torture? Yeah.

Chapter Twenty Six: Paranoia

Paranoia is the delusion that your enemies are organized.~ Arthur D. Hlavaty.

X

Prowl had been rather perplexed after giving the geode to Nell. He didn't feel sick, and his internal scans showed he was free of viruses. Ratchet wasn't bothered, so he simply called those odd feelings a fluke. Flukes happened. He thought back to the geode as he drove into the driveway, gravel rattling against his wheel wells. His part of the geode was sitting safely on a shelf in his room, next to his 'hang in there' poster.

The ninja bot transformed in the barn entryway, as he had done several times before. This place that Nell had called home was becoming familiar to him. He liked familiarity. There was Nell, looking around the barn. He raised his hand in greeting. “Hello, Nell.”

The human smiled, and waved back, something she'd never done before. “Hey Prowl.” the bot felt his spark tighten slightly in its casing. Nell was wearing the shotgun. “What's up?”

What's up? Nell didn't say that. It had only been a few days since he came by. She only asked if things were okay if he were gone for over a week. Now Prowl was really worried. “Nothing is up, Nell. Why do you ask?”

“Uh, no reason.” she lied. He could tell she had lied. She was never nervous around him. She continued to look about as if waiting for something. “You wouldn't happen to know if anyone's been away from the base in the last few days, would you?” she asked, before gulping, and looking away. “N-never mind.” she ruffled her hair, and frowned at him, tapping her foot. “I know what you're thinking. It's just a precaution.” she said, pointing at the gun. He frowned slightly. Her hands were shaking, and she turned to look behind her.

She fidgeted, stuttered, and lied to him in the first minutes he had arrived. It wasn't prying if he was worried, he told himself. “You seem troubled, Nell.” the ninja bot said cautiously. Nell jumped at his words, like she forgot he was there. He could hide easy, and duck out of site, but he was right behind her. That did it, now he was certain something was wrong. Telling him her gun was a precaution was a lie. Nell didn't jump when he spoke, and her eyes didn't dart around like a frightened cat. “What are you so afraid of?” now that he thought about it, why were the horses looking at him like that? They all looked frightened of him, with the exception of Champ. He looked... rather happy to see him, nose to the bars.

“Troubled... yeah... dammit to hell, like I can hide stuff from a ninja,” she mumbled, tugging on the strap of her gun holster, catching it to sit in the crook of her elbow, frowning up at him. “Prowl, I need to show you something.” she walked toward a stall in the back. “Come on, you have to see to understand,” she said, motioning with her head for him to follow. “This is gonna suck,” she mumbled to herself, fingers skimming the wood of the gun.

He nodded, visor flattened at the top. What could scare her so bad that she needed to wear the gun? He followed her. It took one step of his to match three of hers. He realized then just how small Nell really was. Not frail or feeble or weak by any means at all, just small. She was quite fit looking to him. They were at the stall, looking in at a white Arabian stallion.

Shylock snorted, pushing his nose at the stall bars, eyes wide and excited to see his master and the metal person that came along. He liked this metal person. He was quiet and didn't scare his master. Scaring his master made him a very angry horse, and he was not nice when angry. “Easy, Shy, you're not right yet...” Nell muttered, petting him to still his excited hooves.

“What did you want me to...” Prowl asked quietly, but stopped. There were staples in a long cut on the horses stomach. His white fur was stained with brown around the wound, clouded red prickling through. “...see.” he got to one knee, looking in at the injured animal. The horse looked back, as cocky as ever, even with an injury. “What happened, Nell?”

The woman shrugged. “I don't know what happened, but it couldn't be an accident.” She frowned, and pointed at the wound. “It's too deep and too straight to be natural. He comes running up to me last night at dinner, cut open, spouting blood and pissed off with Champ bringing up the rear. I'm not a vet, but I know he didn't get it from a tree limb or wire. My vet got here in time though, so Shy should be okay...” the short human didn't sound very confident, though.

Prowl frowned, looking at Nell. She was angry, and she was scared. Someone hurt her horse. “What did the vet say?” he asked quietly.

The woman ran her hand through her hair, sighing. “He said it was lucky he had been at a nearby farm, or Shylock might of bled out. That scared me to death. I love my horses...”

The bot had the urge to put his hand on her back, but he kept still. She didn't want to be touched right now. “I don't blame you for being afraid, Nell.” truth be told, the ninja bot had an idea as to what could have harmed the horse. From what he saw, the injury was deep and clean. Thin like a razor blade... or a certain bots shield spikes. He frowned, visor narrowed. If that were the case, he would stay. If it weren't the case, he would still stay. If the horses were in danger, then Nell was in danger. He wasn't going to let her come to harm. “I think I should stay the night.”

“Prowl, you don't have to,” she said, a little shocked. It was a nice offer, but he didn't have to do that. Hell, he didn't have to do anything for her, but he did, and she didn't even ask. Nell liked Prowl, she liked him a lot, but she didn't get him at all. “You're an Autobot. Don't you have things to do? You know, like... a schedule of some kind?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He chuckled. “Nell, my 'schedule' is meditation, watching nature, and visiting you. I'm doing one of those things right now. I am more than willing to stay if it's what you want.”

Why she kept trying to poke holes in his reasons, she had no idea. “Well, there's plenty of nature, but how can you meditate out here?”

Prowl smiled, visor shifting. “If I can meditate in a crowded warehouse with Bumblebee and Bulkhead in the middle of the industrial sect of the city -and I can- I know I can do so out here.”

It soon became obvious that Prowl wasn't going to take no for an answer, and that relieved the human to a point. The woman thought about it. What was there to lose? “Well, if you say so, okay. Cool. Sleep over with a ninja robot.”

“Or is it a sleep over with a horse trainer?” She giggled, cheeks pink, and he smiled wider. The warm hum in his spark had returned as strong as before. He didn't really know what it meant, but he liked the feeling. He decided it was a good thing, and was glad to have it return.

X

So, the ninja bot was staying for the night? That was what he heard, at least. Or thought he had heard. He was pretty far away. He had to stay out of tracking range. He had to strain to hear what was being said. He didn't want to be picked up on that stupid ninja bot's radar. This messed up his plan. Though some thought him stupid, he wasn't. He was far from stupid, he just had to find a better time to do what needed to be done.

With that stupid ninja in the way of things, he'd have to think harder. He could do that. The bot grinned, optics flashing hot white before fading back to blue. Let the stupid ninja 'protect' the filthy meat bag. This gave him more time. She'd be out of the way soon enough. Then, things could be back to normal. No more questioning him, no more brig, no more anything. The bot grinned, and drove back to the city.

Time was on his side.

X

Shockwave had fallen into a routine with the little human, Cole. Wake him up, check him over, take down information in a data log he had started, and take him to Megatron for his 'studies'. Keeping the human occupied was a main goal that Shockwave had taken special care in meeting. He had translated the entire series of Allspark writings at Megatron's order, and was in full support of Cole learning from them.

That brought him to the newest idea that Megatron had for the wee human. Food deprivation. The human had gone for eight days without food, but he was given all the water he needed. The goal was to break him, not kill him. The double agent had to wonder where the line was to be drawn. It wasn't his job to think of such things, but it was his job to keep Cole alive. Lines blurred, and he simply ignored the blur and kept going. That was how things were.

The double agent had learned that there was a 'code' of sorts when it came to the survival of humans. It was called the 'Law of Three'. A human could on average survive three Earth weeks without food, three Earth days without water, three minutes without air. True, the times varied with different humans, but the clawed and antlered bot made sure to follow the Law of Three to the millisecond. So long as Cole stayed hydrated, his worries could relax, if just a little.

Cole would not die unless Megatron ordered it. This wasn't an issue. What was an issue was the fact that Shockwave was growing concerned for the human. He had done things to bots more horrifying than this, but Cole wasn't some bot. Humans were delicate to the point of it being almost sad. Almost. At the same time, it was interesting to see just how much they could take.

Shockwave also understood that Cole wasn't a complete idiot. He only asked questions that would give him an answer that he could figure out on his own. As he looked down at the human he held between his claws, he wondered what Cole would ask him today. Questions were frequent with the human. Answers, however, were not.

“Why do I always go to Megatron's room?” and so, it had begun.

“It was his order.” keep the answers blunt, and let Cole figure it out on his own.

“Oh, okay.” he said, looking around quizzically. “Where are we, exactly? Or can you not tell me?” he said, looking up at Shockwave. He liked Shockwave. He was quite compared to Blitzwing. Lugnut, oh, lord, Lugnut made Sentinel seem like a quiet guy with a stable mind. It scared the hell out of Cole to think that someone could scare him more than Sentinel had. Funny, he wasn't scared of Shockwave, who looked like a powerful surgical tool mash up of a robot. Oh so pointy yet oh so careful.

“We are in a hallway.” he said, voice as dull and British as ever. He wasn't in the mood to talk. Concern showing through his voice wasn't something he wanted anyone to know about. Concern for the human was not the job he had been assigned. Emotions were not in his job.

“No, I mean... are we underground? Are we even on Earth?” he had no sunlight, no television, no clocks or internal clock that worked. He had zero idea of what was going on outside, or if there even was an outside. He wanted to know something. “Shockwave, are we in Hell?” it was worth a shot.

“We are not in Hell. We are still on Earth, we are simply... hidden.” he paused, and tapped a claw on a nearby wall, holding the human up to look.. “I want you to guess where we are. Use that small processor you have. This is, in fact, my very own design. Simple, spacious, and the walls are a minimum of three feet thick to dampen both sound and signal. Solid rock. We are about eight days from where you were located if you were to go on foot without recharge,” had he a mouth, he'd be smirking. “So, human, where are we?”

“You made this place? Whoa...” amazed by this, Cole blinked up at the shape shifting bot “There a boat involved? If I were going on foot, would I need to take a boat at some time?”

Well, the little meatball could think. “Yes.”

“Hmm...” he blinked, and a minute or so later, he looked back up at the antlered bot. “We're under a mountain, aren't we?”

“Exactly. Well done.” it was the flattest, least impressed reply he could make, but Cole still smiled. “Lord Megatron wanted a place to hide us while we prepare.” but for what, he wouldn't tell. Not yet, at least.

“Prepare for what?” Cole asked, gray eyes as curious as ever.

“That I can't tell you.” the door to Megatron's room opened, and Shockwave bowed his helm. “My Lord,” there sat Megatron, still the silver and red hellion he was everyday. There was the tank that Cole would have to be sat in until he was done with the next Allspark chapter. The took a while to read, but the were very interesting.

“Hi, Megatron.” Cole said, smiling as he was placed in the tank. Shockwave bowed his helm again, and walked out of the room. “So...” he tried to talk to Megatron. He was the only one who didn't talk to him, really. That made him try harder, though. “How's the, uh, thing coming?”

The silver bot didn't look up. He hadn't when Shockwave put him in the tank, either. Hell, he didn't even move, save for his hand when he wrote. Megatron growled quietly, but he said nothing.

“Uh... never mind, then...” with that, he went to read the data pad. He was bored, not that reading how Primus and Unicron had come to exist wasn't amazing, but, he had something on his mind. The blond sighed, frowning. “I know what you're trying to do.” Cole said, back to the Decepticon Lord.

Megatron looked up from his own work, brows raised at the human. “Is that so, human?” well, there came the mood swings that came with starvation. One moment, Cole was happy to see him, the next, he was talking down to him. He smirked. A few days lacking food, and the human was cracking. It was almost too easy. “Tell me, then, what is my plan?” this should be interesting.

He nodded. “I'm a blond, not a retard.” he mumbled, scrolling down the sideways data-pad. He was far from bored, but his stomach was gnawing on itself due to a few days with nothing to do. He needed a distraction, but the fourth chapter of the sacred Allspark writings were not being absorbed. His sleep was being effected, too. The little blond needed sleep.

“You don't say my name, you don't answer half my questions, you don't give me food.” he turned, and gave Megatron the most disappointed stare he could, which came out as a half awake stare. “Also, Shockwave believes in Primus. He wouldn't go arguing with me about God and Hell just because he wanted me to know he didn't.” he looked at the silver and red hellion that was bending down to glare at him. Cole closed his eyes, and rolled over. “You want a plaything. Told you I wasn't a retard.”

In a rumble and shake, Cole was pinned to the back wall by an awful, hellish stare. The red optics bore into his head, Megatron's voice as fluent as smoke rising from flames. He loomed just out of the light, forcing Cole to look at him. The silver mech didn't even have to stand to scare the little meat bag. His whispered, so that Cole was forced to pay attention. “I am well aware of your intelligence, Cole. You are also aware of my power. Do be careful not to cross me, and do not assume that you know my plans. It may be the last thing you do...” with that, he sat back in his thrown, frowning.

Cole took a deep breath, but stayed still. This was all a game, in his mildly warped mind. This was all a game to Megatron, and the little blond thought he might as well play along. Shockwave was already a good player, trying to get in his head like that. Whatever kept him alive, he'd play along. Even if it meant not eating. He'd been in tougher scrapes before. He stared at nothing, and curled into a ball. “I don't think I like this game...”

What Cole couldn't grasp in his food deprived and unbalanced state, was that this 'game' wouldn't be any fun at all. Not for him, and not for the Decepticons.


	27. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep deprivation as a form of torture.

Chapter Twenty Seven : Progress.

_Time! the corrector when our judgments err. ~Lord Byron_

_x_

Starscream was a very busy seeker. He had much to do, much to plan for, and so much to get ready. He had plenty of time, though, so, he wasn't in any rush. His current project was merely a part in Project Icarus, which would launch soon. Sarah was almost ready for her part in it, and Starscream had to admit, he couldn't stop smiling. His hard work would soon pay off.

Despite being an amazing fighter and part time scientist, Starscream was a fine artist. He never had the time to paint anymore. Taking over the Decepticons was more important than artistry. It was a shame, too, he was a very talented painter. He always had to sign his work with a seal, though. His penmechship was atrocious and tiny.

"Now, lets see..." those parts were done, now for the smaller things. Details mattered, especially for this. The seeker stepped back, and looked through the paint he had. "Hmm..." it was a big decision. Colors were everything to some. He was just priming the project now, its many parts covered in dull gray. He'd let it dry, then paint the color he liked. It wasn't like he could ask Sarah or anything like that.

He set the pieces on a table to dry. "Now, then..." he said, picking up a container of light blue. He sprayed the blank wall with it, then picked another, and sprayed next to that. Click- _hiss_ , click- _hiss_ , click- _hiss_... He kept going until he had gone through all the colors he thought would fit. Starscream crossed his arms, humming 'Demon Heart' to himself. "Well, this shouldn't be _too_ hard." he had plenty of time. He had been working for a few days now, wondering at the date now and then. He had done research into good times to launch for the canyons, and it was...

Wait a click, what was today?

His optics twitched at the realization. Oh, slag. He forgot. Today was the day for the canyons, and he _forgot!_ "Slag... oh, _slag!_ " he growled, bolting from the work room. They had missed the launch deadline. It would be another two weeks before they could try again. Not good. Now, Sarah was going to think he had lied. For once, he hadn't! He meant it, even though it was asked during a 'flight high', he meant it!

Sarah was in her tank, no surprise there, staring at the ceiling, singing some song about Miss Murder, whoever _she_ was supposed to be. The human had an admittedly odd taste in music. She was wrapped up in the comforter, looking bored out of her mind. "-a look, they shook! And heavens fell before him. Simply a look- What's up?" she said, not sounding nearly as interested in his frantic running as that song she sang.

Starscream came to a halt, and straightened up to hide the rather awkward pose. He didn't want to look like a hunched over femme when Sarah looked. He had forgotten, now he had to deal with an angry femme. Deep down, somewhere between his tank and his spark chamber, a cold, nasty flopping thing made itself known. Ew, space barnacles maybe? The seeker thought she would be angry. Wouldn't she be angry? He'd best prepare, anyway. "Ahem, I have some bad news, female." he said, arms folded behind his back. "...why are you naked?"

She looked up at him, frowning. He looked different upside down. "My clothes smell like shit is why. I'm soaking them to kill some of the stink." she hoped it worked, she hated being naked, and stinky clothes weren't any fun. "Don't tell me the gravity is acting screwy again." she was still reeling from her crash course as a mock up pinball in a game of 'Kill the Squishy'. The bruises were a painful reminder, and she knew they made her look even uglier, if it were possible.

The last time he had seen her naked, she screamed and curled into a ball. "Uh... alright then." Starscream averted his bright red gaze, continuing. "We missed the deadline for the launch. We should have left-" he checked his internal clock, half snarling, "Six _hours_ ago, " this was going well, he had to admit. "Now, we can try it again in a few weeks, but we will have to stay on the planet for two days, maybe less." maybe this would spare him the humans wrath. Wait, wrath? Could humans even _have_ wrath? They were squishy, what could they possibly do?

She cocked an eyebrow, and blinked. "...okay. That it?" the human said. Was that what he was freaking out about? She didn't know about the date, she didn't even know the time. Why would she be upset if she had no idea? He never had gotten her a clock, but she didn't really care about time anymore.

"You... _aren't_ upset, then," he said, hiding the shock as well as the relief, the strange slippery feeling somewhere in his vacant spark chamber stilling to a cold, wet feeling pit.

She merely shrugged, the gesture somehow shoving the feeling someplace far away where it couldn't bother him. "You've been busy, you're gonna forget stuff. Shit like that happens." the human said with a roll onto her stomach, taking the comforter with her. He wasn't going to see her boobs, flat as they were. "Hey, are you changing your paint job or something?"

"Huh?" he looked down at his chassis, raising an eyebrow. He was covered I wisps of blues and greens, and many combinations of the two from his little test. Okay, time to lie. "Why... yes. I might, female, though I am having a _little_ trouble deciding what to have. I need only the best color scheme, you know." he grinned, spreading his arms. "Any suggestions, Sarah?"

None of the colors looked good on him, but she'd try to help him out. Why did he need her help, anyway? "Well, what do you want to put it with?" blue went with a lot of colors, and so did green. She wasn't that into color schemes, but she didn't have anything else to do. She had already chewed her nails down to nubs, and was running out of songs to sing.

He rested his fists on his hips, head cocked and held high. "I'm not sure... something fitting for a seeker such as myself, of course." she rolled her eyes, and looked at the colors he had splattered across his chassis and cockpit. Funny, this was the dirtiest she'd ever seen him, other than that fight with the clone.

The dirt blond frowned, speaking with half hearted sarcasm. "Of course, Lord Starscream," so many to pick from, so few she actually liked. She pointed at one that got her attention, blinking. "That one."

The magenta and color splattered seeker looked down, "This one?" he said, tapping a bright, deep turquoise that had landed on his cockpit. What a lovely color... she had good taste, for a human.

"Yeah, that one." she said. She liked that color. He wouldn't look bad in it. "It looks nice."

"You're sure, then?" he asked, turning to leave if she gave the okay. Since when did it matter if she was alright with him leaving the room? It was never an issue before.

"Yeah." she nodded, and rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling yet again. "He left us all behind! We're left to wonder why. He left us all behind! Hey, Miss Murder can I? Hey, Miss Murder can I? Make beauty stay if I-" she went back to singing, and Starscream walked back to his work room, smirking.

"Not Demon Heart, but it'll do." he muttered, looking at the colors that had dried on the wall. The mix looked better than the faded Decepticon purple. He had grown tired of the color, truth be told. A little change never hurt. The many shades of blue seemed to cover the scratches and dents that had occurred over his time on the ship. It was huge ship, really. Even in it's dilapidated state, it could house about a thousand of his kind. He frowned. He doubted there were that many Seekers left.

He whirred, and What in the name of the Unmaker was that feeling he had? It felt familiar, distant, but oh so familiar. It wasn't a difficult emotion to feel, but it was very hard to shake most of the time. What had it been called...

Guilt. That nasty, flopping feeling was guilt. When was the last time he felt _that?_ Two thousand years, three thousand? Maybe more? Just how old was he? It was funny, he didn't know. At least Sarah wasn't angry with him. That confused him further. Why did he care that she wasn't mad? It shouldn't have mattered, neither should her being happy.

Well, on the bright, not as confusing side, he knew what color to paint now. "I _knew_ Sarah liked darker shades." he muttered, picking up the air brush again, switching out the container for the darker color Sarah had pointed to. He liked that shade, too. It wasn't magenta, but it was a nice color. "Back to work!" the magenta seeker said with a chirp. He was back to smiling, and looked at the color closely. Gold accents would work nicely. Yes, very, _very_ nicely... stencils done in high gloss black would make the colors 'pop', as it was said.

Oh, the fun he was going to have. He didn't realize how much he had missed painting!

x

A few days passed by like nothing, and Cole was given food again. It started out slowly, just simple things to get his weight back up. Cutting him off from food did nothing. He had done the strangest thing when given food, though. The shape shifter remembered the rather odd, uncalled for reaction.

Megatron had an orange, and he casually rolled it to Cole, expecting the hungry human to pounce and devour it. But the human sat there, looking at the fruit. "Can I eat it?" he said, gray eyes locking onto the silver and red hellion. He looked frail, but he wasn't. His look held cocky, teen aged confidence, but not surrender.

Megatron had nodded, but Cole sat still, looking at him tiredly, ribs moving with his heavy breathing. The lack of food had changed him into a slightly skeletal little creature, but he stayed the rather happy human he had been. He looked like he had before, smiling and waving and asking random questions... but it was obvious that his body had been effected. Megatron frowned, optics narrowed. "Eat, human."

The human ate, but only when Megatron said to. Not when given a gesture, but when _told_.

Cole was far from broken, they knew that much. Cole was just playing along, acting like a puppet, acting like the Decepticons had won. They messed with him, and he did his best to mess back. It didn't fool them, but he took some small victory from pissing off Megatron, if only a little. Megatron had ordered Shockwave to break Cole without lethal force, but Shockwave had to wonder where the humans breaking point was. Did he even have one? What was and wasn't lethal for a human?

When would lethal force be required? The teal and gray double agent could only guess.

Sleep deprivation without privacy invasion was not an easy task to accomplish, but it could be done. All he had to do was create a device that emitted a certain tone. Something that he and the others couldn't hear, but that Cole could. A simple, unending tone that would keep him from sleep as long as it was active.

It was far harder than it seemed.

Humans were very attuned to sounds, he learned. Cole could tell who walked by the room by foot falls, and his reactions told the double agent who it was. When it was Blitzwing, the human wouldn't do anything other than smile. When Lugnut walked by, Cole covered his ears, in case the walking, talking, 'Punch of Kill Everything' having, Megatron fanbot decided to start yelling. Which he did, if talking to Blitzwing. Lugnut lacked an 'indoor voice'. Shockwave had no 'outdoor voice', so he had been told by Blitzwing during a random mood of his.

When Megatron would walk by, though, Cole would watch the door, concentrating as hard as he could on the door. Shockwave kept his room shut off from the others. He realized, after the third or fourth time the human stared at the door when the Decepticon Lord went by, that he was waiting for him to enter the room. Cole had an odd fascination with Megatron. He must watch the silver warrior when in his chambers.

He could understand the humans sensitive hearing. His 'antlers' were not just for show, after all. Creating the device wasn't a simple task. He had to have gone through over forty notes to find one that effected the human. That was the key thing, though. It wasn't one note in a continuing stream of annoyance, he soon learned. It was three notes, overlapping each other to create one long, unending, gear grinding buzz. Three days of tinkering with the small box of audio-splitting hell, and it was almost ready.

Megatron was pleased, save for the lights flickering upon the start of the device. For him, and the rest of the Cons, it was silent.

For Cole, it was a living nightmare. A tone that only he could hear. A quiet, constant, flat buzz that did not end. It did not let him sleep, it did not let him think clearly. "Uh... Shockwave?" the human asked from the hammock, eyes wide and as curious as ever.

Shockwave didn't turn around, but he answered, "What is it, human?"

"Do... you hear a buzzing noise? There's this noise that's... keeping me awake. Do you hear it Shockwave?" he asked, looking out at him in a rather frightened manner. "Do you hear it?"

The double agent blinked his solo optic, and looked at the human over his shoulder. "I hear nothing, human."

"You sure?" he whimpered.

"I can assure you that I hear nothing." it technically wasn't lying. He couldn't hear the tone that kept Cole awake. He had made sure he couldn't, in fact, but the human didn't know that. "Why do you ask?"

The humans eyes darted around, legs pulled up to his chest. "It won't let me sleep."

"What won't?"

"That sound!"

He shuttered his optic, cocking his helm. "I still don't understand."

The blond crawled out of the hammock trying to talk to Shockwave without sounding scared. "There is a buzzing sound that is keeping me awake. I want to know if you can hear it." he swallowed, "can you?"

"I don't hear anything, but I will look into it..." he went back to his work, whirring. The device was definitely working, and the human wasn't too happy. Cole could hear the sound, but others couldn't. This would be an interesting thing to observe.

x

A few days had passed since the ninja had stayed with the meat bag. He thought that would screw up his plans, but actually it gave him more time. He had to make it clear that he wasn't going to let some organic push him around. He just needed a better target. There was a small, black creature, with a taller black creature next to it. The larger one was jumping around. There was a huge, brown one not far away, looking around.

Sentinel grinned, and set his sights on the brown one. He charged out of the trees, when- _Tick-click, chook,_ _ **boom!**_ At that huge banging noise, something struck him hard in the shoulder. "Yow!" it hurt like the pit, but what was it? Sentinel turned around, and saw that stupid meat bag, a strange gun aimed right at him. _Tick-click, chook,_ _ **boom!**_ With that, the same pain in his shoulder hit him in the neck plate, close to a weak spot. Sentinel flinched, slapping a hand to his neck and turning to look at what hit him. The human fooled with the weapon, and fumbled, falling out of view with a cry and the tear of cloth. She caught herself on the fence.

Ha! That stupid meat bag couldn't even load her weapon. He ran at the creatures, only for another shot to hit one of his audios. The pain and the sound tripped him, him falling on his face. The two things ran out of sight, screaming and kicking their back legs. He looked up, staggering to his feet, and saw the organic, her side leaking red, teeth bared. A fourth shot was fired, the humans teeth bared and brow pinched. "Slaggit to pit!" that shot missed his faceplate by a breath. He looked the human in the eyes, snarling, optics flashing hot white before he tore aft out of there. He had done enough.

Nell smirked, lowering the gun. "Gotcha, you crazy bastard." the woman said. Champ bayed at her, smelling blood, his heavy body pacing around his side of the fence. Why had she left him on that side of the fence? He couldn't protect her with the bad wires in the way! The wires had hurt her like that mean metal person had hurt Shylock. Champ was the protector of the herd, and his master was putting herself in danger.

She looked behind her, rolling her eyes. "Alright, calm down!" the woman said, pressing a large hand to her side. She got Sentinel, and the fence got her. The tank top she was wearing was going in the trash tonight, she knew. She had her shots, and she shot that annoying, blue prick right in the head. She knew it was a good idea to buy hollow-points. "Dammit, I better have some gauze..."


	28. Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep deprivation as a form of torture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cole's not doing so well.

Chapter Twenty Seven: Insomnia

Insomnia is a gross feeder. It will nourish itself on any kind of thinking, including thinking about not thinking. ~Clifton Fadiman

X

It had been two days, exactly forty eight hours Earth time, since Shockwave turned on the 'sleep tone'. Cole had asked him what the sound was, asking him to look for it. He had looked, if only to been terrified, frustrated, convinced he was going crazy. A sound only he could hear, a sound that he could not block, even when he covered his ears and screamed. The double agent had shut off his audio receptors, just for a few minutes, to block said screaming. When he turned them back on, Cole was rolling his rosary, face blank, gray eyes reddened, and skin paler than before. He was stuck in a repetitious motion of rocking, back and forth, confused and unrelenting.

It was only two days, and it was working.

“Shockwave, what are you making?” Cole asked from the tank, head cocked.

The antlered con looked at him over a shoulder, and extended an arm to show him. “This is a flame grenade. An invention of my own creation.” he watched the human look it over, then brought the device back, setting it down. He bumped a small box, and straightened it so it was flat to the wall. He had to be careful. The metal canister was sound and safe, but the chemicals that went into it were not. One wrong bump or jostle, and he could blow off his arm, or worse.

“Oh.” Cole blinked, “What does it do?”

The antlered con bumped the box again, and he straightened it again, setting up a glass cylinder. “It's simple. I throw the grenade, and it collides with my target, coating them in a highly flammable fluid. There is a built in sparking device, which will then, once active, set the target on fire.” he liked the device. It wasn't very fast, but it offered a distraction. A bot running about while on fire could give him, or others, the chance they need to escape. Seconds mattered in battle. 

He filled the glass tube with the volatile fluid, placed a rubber plug in the end, and placed it into the canister. “Being set ablaze is extremely painful for our kind. Wire covers burnt, sensory nodes welded to armor, paint peeled, energon tubes burst in some cases.” he said dully, sealing the metal canister. “Every move is excruciating, and not many last long enough for medics to save them. It's very effective.” the box wasn't touched this time, but he made sure it was flat anyway. Just to make sure.

Cole blinked. Shockwave spoke about that awful thing like it were the weather. “...you're a sadist.” the human said blankly. “And how many times are you gonna fix that stupid box?”

“I suppose, in some way, I am.” he wasn't one for fighting, really. He would rip a bot to shreds if he had to, but only when he had to. He ignored the box question. He simply had to keep things in order.

“So, why haven't you hurt me yet?” Cole understood sadism, but he didn't understand Shockwave or Megatron, or Blitzwing or Lugnut. What was the game they played with him, and was there any way for him to win? He shook his head, then cocked it at the bot with that solo optic. “Well? Why not?”

That caught the double agent off guard. “Lord Megatron has plans for you. Harming you is not part of it.” 'yet', there was always a 'yet' with this kind of thing. Food and sleep deprivation was one thing, breaking bones and parting flesh was another. If it reached that point, he wouldn't know what to do about it. He didn't want to harm the human, if only because it conflicted heavily with his primary order to keep him alive. Cole was an organic, he could only be pushed so far before going offline.

“Then what are his plans?” he said, pressing a pale hand to the tank barrier. 

Shockwave placed the canister back at his hip, standing up, giving a careful, bleak glance at Cole. “You'll see.” he took off the other one, and went to work on that. Doing one at a time decreased the chances of them going off. If he caught fire, Megatron would be furious. About an hour passed by as Shockwave prepared the mixture again, and, from behind, he heard,

“Shockwave, what are you making?” 

He didn't answer. Only two days without sleep, and the humans short term memory was effected.

X

Why Megatron let Cole continue reading the Sacred Allspark Writings was lost to him. It didn't seem like he was actually absorbing the information. He had a data pad for note taking, and a stylus, also for note taking. Perhaps learning this kind of thing, the idea of a planet god and a planet eating devil, would push the human over the edge. Cole, as he was called, was obviously not that sound of mind.

The data pad was sitting a few feet away, face up and somewhere near the middle chapter. The notes pad was behind the human, turned upside down, stylus laying uselessly beside it. Megatron's attention wasn't on that, though, it was on the human. He hadn't moved in several minutes, staring in his direction. The silver Decepticon wasn't sure what he was looking at, though. There was nothing but walls made from stone.

Megatron's optics narrowed, staring at the human. “What is so interesting?”

The blond flinched at the question, but didn't look away. “Not sure, can't see, are my eyes open? I can't tell.” he meant it. He wasn't sure what was going on, everything was kind of wavy and dull, like static or tiny rainbows that pulsated around the edges of objects. He wasn't sure what he was seeing, or if he was even alive anymore. His face had gone numb, and his fingers were cold.

The silver and red hellion frowned. “Have you tried blinking?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cole looked at him, right at him, and blinked. Then, he did it again. Then, a third time. “Okay... I-I-I can see now...”

Megatron didn't move, optics narrowed at the teen. “Why have you stopped reading, human?”

“Can't keep it in my head. Head won't take it, says it's too confusing. Says you're going to kill me anyway.”

So, the human was hearing voices? From what he knew, they weren't supposed to hear voices. “Ah... what do the voices tell you?”

Cole blinked at the robot, frowning. “Lots of things. Mostly Latin stuff. Old memories and sh-shit like that. The word f-f-fag pops up... Don't w-worry about it.”

He blinked. “Fag?” how was that a slur?

Cole twitched. “Yeah, homophobic slur I got a l-lot when I came out.” 

“Came out?” what was a homophobic slur? What was homophobic, even? It was nothing the Internet couldn't answer. “Oh, you mean to say you are what's known as a homosexual?” 

“Yup, gay as a three dollar bill!” he said, the rosary around his neck feeling cold against his skin.

Megatron didn't see the humor in that. “You have been a target for homophobia, then?”

The little blond shook his head hard, and closed his eyes. “Fag, queer, fairy, homo, and gay... humans suck sometimes. They treat you different even if they've known you forever.”

Megatron smirked slyly at the human. That was nothing, really. “You would not believe the things others have called me.”

“Huh?”

“Let me see,” he said, looking at the rock walls as if he were in thought. “I have been called glitch head, psychopath, lunatic, maniac, and monster,” he perched his helm on a curled fist, optics half open and glowing at the names. He had been called much worse, but those were the more common ones. Monster was extremely popular. 

At that, the human sputtered, and stumbled to his feet. He floundered a bit as his legs gave, in but he managed to stand and shout, “Monster? No!” his hands shook, and he pointed back and forth between himself and the Decepticon. “I know what monsters are, Megatron. YOU... you are NOT a monster. N-n-no!” 

“Hmm... how would you know what makes one a monster?” the human must be crazy, saying he wasn't a monster after what he was doing to him. What kind of twisted logic did he have to make such a bold statement? 

Cole flinched, but made eye contact. He was scared to death of Megatron, but that didn't make him a monster. “Do you do whatever you want because you think God will forgive you? Do you think that God sent you to force people to s-s-some twisted way of life?” it came out in a rush of half heard gibberish. 

That confused him. “I want the freedom of those who are oppressed by the flawed system that the Autobots think is so... superior.” he snarled the word 'superior', optics narrowed. 

“Then you are not a monster! Jake, and S-Sarah's father... they were. They were the worst humans on Earth... they were monsters.”

He didn't know why he asked further, but he did. He chalked it up to boredom. “How so?”

“Sarah's father was s-schizophrenic, he went off his medication. He did things to her and her mother. That's what she t-t-told me. I didn't believe her, but I do now. N-n-ever gonna forget. He r-raped her. More t-than once.” Cole flinched sharply, like a tic. He was shaking crazily, but he didn't seem to notice. 

Megatron blinked, confused. Who was Sarah and why would Cole know that kind of thing? This was a difficult, but interesting, conversation.

“And do.. do you... do you know what he would say before he'd rape her? He had this... he was this sick, sick man! He thought he was some s-s-s-sort of messenger from God! He thought.. he thought... he did whatever he wanted! He would open the door and...” he gasped for air, and then continued, hands shaking and eyes darting wildly. 

Cole lifted his hand, and pointed at the corner, “He'd point at her from the door and say... he'd say 'DAUGHTER! The day of atonement is due! There are three billion sinners out there, and that includes YOU!', and that... that sick! Ugh... I gotta sit down,” instead of sitting, though, his legs gave out on him, and he fell to his side. He pushed himself up to sit, dazed.

Megatron stared at the human for a few moments. Such a horrific thing, to rape someone, let alone one's own creation. True, he had done, and had others do, terrible things, but rape was not one of them. Some would sink so low as to do such a thing, but not him. He was seducer, not a rapist. Besides, there were those in his ranks that were more than willing to satisfy him. “Why would she tell you about such a thing?” 

Cole shook his head, and looked up at him. “She has nightmares, and screams and flails and begs for mercy from a dead man. Sh-sh-she told me once. I n-n-never forgot. He really f-f-f-fucked with her head...she thinks she's hideous, she's NOT... no, no, no she's not. She's plain... normal, average... and he fucked her up!” 

The silver Decepticon quirked an eyebrow. He wasn't sure who the human was talking to; him or himself. “Dead man?” 

“Yeah... he's dead. She... she killed him and ran... ran from Toronto all the way to Detroit. Police were t-t-too busy sorting things out with the wife... never found her, never gonna. She got taken away b-b-by a purple robot jet thingy...” 

“Eh?” what in Primus name was a 'Purple Robot Jet Thingy'?

Cole blinked, looking up at the silver con, thin brows pinched. “She's dead. A robot... red eyed jet bot took her away... sh-she wasn't moving. So, she's dead,” he shuddered, blinking slowly. “It was one of you,” his voice didn't judgment or anger, only realization.

“How can you be certain she's dead?” Megatron said, frowning. He didn't care that the human was dead, but this was interesting. The way Cole described it, the 'purple robot jet thingy' was more likely than not, Starscream, who he assumed was offline, or at least out of the way. Apparently, this was not the case.

“I told the Autobots about her, I-I told that... that Prime everything. They stopped l-l-looking. They just... stopped looking. I couldn't get her back, so she's dead. I know she's dead.” he muttered, pulling his knees to his chest. He couldn't do anything to help her, and the Autobots didn't do anything, either. They let her fall through the cracks when she might have been saved.

“The Autobots never have been reliable when it comes to finding the missing.” how long had he been nothing but a legend before that faithful day with the Allspark? How long had he been a head and hand, before he had a body again? How long had he been in the mines? Or here, inside of a mountain?

“I gave her last rites and all, just because... she deserved them... more than deserved them.”

The Decepticon blinked, optics narrowed. “Last rites?”

The blond blinked back at him, cocking his head. “You know... the prayer you say before someone dies? Or is dying... uh, l-l-lets see... Per istam sanctan unctionem et suam piissimam misericordiam, indulgeat tibi Dominus quidquid per. Amen. Latin. They say it when someone is sick or dying. S-s-since she's dead, I said it. Well... first it was crying, then the rites... and then more crying.” he felt like crying now, thinking of Sarah being taken out of the world by a savage, robotic jet.

The silver Decepticon thought for a moment. He was never one for religious studies, but he remembered some things. “Yesha, Kenshendo meynra, luxunolo mexhar, kendar, kendar metyonr yesha. Yesha, ralno ta, ta meynra luxunolo. Vetanmoloq, doframon. Hevar, Hevar, Hevar. Kehtekek, marlon, yesha.” it sounded beautiful, even if it sounded like a growled out deadpan that was said through a coffee can.

“Wow...” Megatron smirked at the human. They were so easily impressed. “What does that all mean?”

His smirked widened, “Well now, human, you'll just have to keep reading the Sacred Writings to figure that out, now won't you?” with that, Cole smiled, an excited, curious, normal smile, and was back to reading the chapter, scribbling notes. Good, now that the human was done staring at him, he could finish, and deliver, that speech of his.

He couldn't help but wonder, though, who that 'Jake' person was. He shrugged it off, it didn't matter.

X

“Lucky bastard.” the blond muttered. Megatron was sleeping, apparently. He didn't look half as scary with his optics closed. He slept on his side, arm cannon to the door. Well, at least when he was laying down he looked calm. Cole had seen the silver beast of a robot sleeping sitting up, cannon at the door. He always had a cannon at they door when sleeping. “Paranoid bastard.” he growled, flopping onto one side, then rolling away from Megatron to stare at a boring stone wall.

X

“Lord Megatron needs to discuss something with me. I was told to leave Cole under your watch.” Shockwave set the human on the berth, and looked at the three faced Decepticon. “You are not to handle, squeeze, throw, shoot, or step on the human.” what was so urgent that he had to leave Cole with Blitzwing, he didn't know. The human was in his fourth day without sleep, and wasn't saying much anymore. 

Icy nodded. “Understood,” his face spun to Random, who grinned, “Ooh! Does zhat mean I can poke him? They are so much fun to poke!” 

“Just... watch him.” the double agent said, holding his claws up.

Angry spun out, and yelled at him. “You say zhat like I can't handle the human, you fragging mechanical reindeer!”

Shockwave sighed, and headed out. No one liked dealing with Angry Blitzwing. “Don't touch him. That is all I am asking. I should be done soon.” he stepped out of the room, but looked back in, optic trained on the manic triple changer, “The same goes for Lugnut. No touching the human.” and the cyclopean Con was off. 

Blitzwing watched the slender con exit the room, then looked down at Cole. “Well...” said Icy, looking down at Cole.

“Yeah?”

The two stared for a moment, when Random spun out. “Vant to hear a var story?”

The blond sat down, dumbfounded. “...okay?”

X

Megatron frowned as he passed Shockwave the data pad. “What is this?”

Shuttering his solo optic, he read. “These appear to be the humans notes on The... Sacred... writings...” it looked fine at the start, but at the end, the words overlapped. Letters grew huge and tiny, gibberish swallowing the normal words. “Oh dear.”

The larger con crossed his arms, optics narrowed. “Can you decipher anything from that pile of gibberish?”

“Not much, my liege. At the most, a few words, but other than that...” he gave the pad back to Megatron. “He'll crack soon, my lord.”

“Good. Now then-” he was getting a call from Lugnut. “What is it, Lugnut?”

The green and purple behemoth spoke loudly. “Blitzwing is malfunctioning, oh great one!”  
“Really?” he said flatly. The con was a walking malfunction to begin with. “Shockwave, you left the human with Blitzwing, didn't you?”

“I did,” he said, optic wide. “Oh my.” and the shapeshifter was out of the room and heading for the sound of crashing and yelling. 

“BOOM! Explosion!” he ran left. “Whee!” he fell over with a heavy clang. “Do a barrel roll!” he did an actual barrel role, and crashed into a wall. “Bring it on!” he then rolled onto his back, faces spinning rapidly, rump in the air, and ankles next to his head. “Bwahahahaaaaa...” Cole was backed into a corner, arms against the wall.

Shockwave looked at him, getting to his knees to check the dazed triple changer. “What happened?”

Cole shook his head. “I-I-I don't know. He started telling me a war story, and-”

“He what?” Shockwave looked down at the tan and purple con, and carefully stopped the spinning of the faces. It landed on Icy, his normal optic shut. “He knows he's not allowed to tell those. It makes him glitch, trying to reenact a battle. I'm supposing Random suggested it?”

Cole nodded, looking at Blitzwing. “Why would he do it if it'd do that to him?”

“It's Blitzwing. He never has been stable.” said a familiar Decepticon Overlord.

“Eek! What are you, a wraith?” when did Megatron get there?

Lugnut raised an accusing claw at the blond. “You did this on purpose! You made Blitzwing glitch to sabotage Megatron's plans!”

“I can't sabotage what you don't tell me, asshole!”

The huge robot growled. “What did you call me?”

Cole's eye twitched. “Shut the hell up! Do you have any idea how loud you are?”

Lugnut glared down at him, snapping his pincers. “Do not raise your voice at me, fleshling!”

“I can yell too! See? See? I'm doing it right now! AHHH!” 

“Silence.” the silver Decepticon said loudly. 

Cole turned sharply, and snarled. “Fuck you!”

Megatron blinked, and grinned. Well now, this was interesting. “Quite the mouth you have, human.” he then scooped the human into one hand, and walked out of the room. Funny, few were brave enough to yell at Lugnut, let alone him. With humans, though, it was hard to tell the difference between bravery and stupidity. He didn't hold the human near him like Shockwave did. He held the human at his side, walking as if holding a data pad. 

He dropped the human into his room's tank, and smirked down at him. “I'll just put you in here until you learn to behave.” the silver and red hellion didn't care about behavior. Shockwave said the human was close to cracking, he'd leave him alone for a while. Solitude did horrors on the mind, and, seeing that the human was fragile already. He'd break any moment now.

“Bite me, you son of a bitch!” he yelled, watching the door close. “You can't do this to me! You're worse than my mother! You hear me, Megatron?!” he panted, throat sore and vision blurring. “I'll do what you want! Just shut off the fucking buzz!” he yelled into the empty room, grabbing his hair and tugging. After a moment or so of standing frozen where he was, he backed up into the corner, eyes locked on the door. “Shut it off, dammit, shut it off...” he mumbled, arms around his legs. “You control everything, Megatron. I'll do anything you want, just shut it off!”

X

Day five came, and Megatron was back to his own work. Spell checking his speeches made the chance of error less likely

Then, without reason, Cole started touching the back of his neck. He would read a bit, then touch it again. Then, again. Then, he started to touch his left arm, pulling up his shirt to touch his ribs. He repeated this for well over twenty minutes, growing more frightened with each time.

Megatron cocked his head at the human, once again confused. “What are you doing?”

“Uh... ah, ahhhh! AHHH! Oh my god, NO!” he said, thrashing about and looking at his arm. His eyes locked on his hands, then, slowly, he touched his head. “No... no... nonono!”

“Eh?” what in the pit was going on?

Cole twitched sharply, and yelled, “Sharks! Sharks! Fucking sharks!” Megatron blinked, optics narrowed. Sharks? What in Primus name were sharks? He had to do a search on the Internet to figure it out, but he was still confused. He saw no sharks. There was no possible way that there were sharks. Was the human seeing them? Was that the cause of his screaming? “Get them offa me! Get them OFF!” now, Cole was tearing at his arms and chest, trying to remove the sharks that only he could see. 'They're eating my head! They're eating my head!”

“Shockwave,” the silver and red bot said, frowning. 

“Yes, my Lord?” 

Cole wasn't screaming about sharks anymore, but he was grabbing his hair and pulling. Humans weren't supposed to do that. Megatron winced, only slightly, and ground his teeth. This was getting out of hand. “Enough, human,” he said lowly, teeth bared slightly. The blond didn't listen, and ran head first into the tank barrier, yelling with each impact. 

“Get them off! Get them off!” the Decepticon Lord grabbed Cole, squeezing him to still the terrified flailing. The blond had an arm free and was clawing at his neck with his nails, covering his flesh in red marks, blood seeping out of the deeper, fiercer ones. 

Shockwave's voice came through the comm-link again, curious. “Lord Megatron?” 

“Get them out! Get them out! Make it stop! Make it stop!” a second later, he dug his teeth into the soft, pale flesh of his arm, shaking his head like a rabid dog. He let go, and screamed, “They're eating my brain! Get them off! They're trying to eat my brain!”

Oh, that did it. “Shut off the tone. The human is hurting himself.” that seemed to him like an understatement. The human was done clawing his neck, but was now biting his arm again, covering it with red curves that swelled in moments. He was trying to break the humans spirit, not his skin. 

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” there was a click, the lights flickered, and the human stopped moving. His gray eyes were wide, seeming to vibrate. He looked like he had frozen, nails digging, jammed hard in his neck, mouth open, twitching in rhythm with his racing pulse. 

“Human, what do you see?” he asked, opening his hand. The teen blinked, shook his head, and made eye contact. He didn't flinch anymore. “Talk, human. Do you see sharks? Are they eating you alive?” 

Cole smiled at him, blinked slowly, and waved at him. “Night night Megatron...” and with that, the humans head fell back, asleep. 

It was later decided that the human would be left alone for now. Let him get back into a normal sleep cycle, then think of something else to break the weakling of a creature into something useful. 

But Megatron didn't want to do something else. He had underestimated the human to a degree. True, the sleep deprivation had broken him, but it had gotten out of hand. He had not expected the human would ram himself into things. Besides, he was pushed far enough. Give it some time, and he could use the little meat bag.

Megatron wanted compliance, and that was what he would get.


	29. Hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's up with Nell.

Chapter Twenty Nine: Hide

 

_Valuing life is not weakness, and disregarding it is_ not _strength. - The Incredibles_

 

**X**

 

A few days had passed since his last visit with Nell, so when Prowl had arrived at _The Magnolia_ , and found Nell cleaning her gun, he was worried. This was the second time he found her with it, and he couldn't help but grow concerned. Still, he acted like it didn't bother him. “Hello, Nell.”

 

She didn't look up at him, frowning. “Hey.” she muttered, sticking a rod down the barrel and twirling it, before pulling it out again. The human looked his way, and sighed. “I know. Me and the gun again.” Nell swallowed, quiet. “I saw him... Sentinel was... he was _here_ , Prowl.” she said it quietly, gripping the butt of the gun.

 

Prowl whirred, “What do you mean he was here?” the ninja bot asked, visor widened. Was she sure it was him and not a Decepticon? He wasn't denying that Sentinel would do that, but...

 

The short human sighed, wiping the gun barrel with a dry cloth. “I mean Sentinel Prime came on my land and chased after Brandy and Casio a few nights ago. I shot him, though. Got him twice.” she paused, and looked up at her friend. “Did you know he screams like a girl? Cos he screams like a _girl_ ,” she said with a smirk.

 

“This isn't funny, Nell.” Prowl said, frowning.

 

“Oh, don't I know it. Lunatic robot on my property, scaring my horses, _hurting_ my horses, stalking me.” she paused her cleaning, and huffed. “Does Ultra Magnus even _try_ to control Sentinel, or what? Because this is bull.” the human muttered before standing up and heading for the loft.

 

“I'm not sure how it works for Prime's.” he really didn't know how it worked, but that this, letting a Prime endanger a human, was not how it should work. “And you are right. This _is_... bull.” he never did understand human swear words. He knew what it meant, but it still didn't make sense. “Perhaps you can speak with the Magnus today.”

 

Nell had hung up her gun, and was coming back down. “Think he'll wanna hear it?”

 

Prowl nodded. “If his second in command is being a nuisance, he will want to know.” he wanted to call Sentinel a threat, but he didn't want Nell to worry.

 

“Oh! I got an idea.” she dug around in her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “This is my number. I thought it would be a good idea if you were able to call me. I don't want you to go tearing out of the

base for everything.” she said, smiling sheepishly. “Trust me, it's never off.”

 

The ninja bot took the slip of paper, and scanned the number. He smiled at her, and placed a hand to an audio. The woman cocked her head, and, sure enough, bagpipes sounded off in her jeans. Confused, she reached into her pocket, and answered. “Helenearth,”

 

“Hello, Nell.” came Prowl's voice. Once in front of her and once on the phone.

 

“Eee! Cool.” the human beamed, and closed her phone. Prowl chirruped, visor shifted. “What?”

 

“You hung up on me.” he said flatly.

 

Nell giggled. “You're right here!”

 

He nodded, and smiled. “Would you like my comm frequency?”

 

“Sure.” she said, smiling back.

 

Prowl nodded, and her phone rang again. “There you are.”

 

“You... hacked my phone.” she stated, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yes,” he said, watching Nell flip open her phone to look. “It's under my name.”

 

“That's a long number.” she mumbled, giving her lopsided smile.

 

He smiled and nodded. “Are you ready?”

 

“Yeah, let's go.” the human said, tucking the phone back in her pocket.

 

Prowl transformed, and revved his engine, feeling her light weight press down on his seat. She flinched as she got on, and he felt it. “Are you alright?”

 

Nell swallowed, and patted the Autobot under her hips. “I'm fine, lets go.” after a few minutes of driving, she asked him something that had been bothering her for a while. “Prowl, what does it mean when a bot's optics glow?”

 

The ninja bot took a turn, then righted himself. “Normally, it means they're angry.” he'd seen Sentinel's optics flash at her. He just didn't know why, other than his foolish organic phobia, Sentinel hated her. It probably wouldn't make sense, anyway.

 

**X**

 

Nell went to speak with Ultra Magnus, and, sure enough, he had his doubts. What surprised her was the fact that he called Sentinel in to give his side of things. The strange thing was that Sentinel had what seemed to be a valid argument. According to him, he and the jet twins had gone out for training. When asked why he left the ship for this, he said the twins 'practically begged him to go outside', which seemed, even to Nell, like a valid reason. It even explained away his dents.

 

Valid or not, Nell was pissed. She left the Magnus' office in what could be explained as a 'massive huff' as she left the ship. She ignored Jazz on her way out, and she couldn't even look at the twins. She had been there when they confirmed training.

 

“Short one is angry at us, brother?” Jetstorm asked his twin.

 

Jetfire shrugged, just as confused. “For telling truth? No. That is not making sense to me.” the two had followed her off the ship, hoping to see why she didn't talk to them.

 

“Short one?” they said together, but she didn't look at them.

 

Jetfire frowned. “We are knowing you are mad at Sentinel Prime, but we _were_ out training.”

 

“It is truth! We were being with Sentinel Prime most of day!” Jetfire said, optics large.

 

She turned, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, _most_ of? Not all of?”

 

“You two! Mute it! I thought I told you to stay away from that thing.” the foghorn of a bot bellowed, half strutting toward the three. The twins backed up, not happy with being yelled at. “Well now,” the blue bot said, smirking. “Don't you feel stupid, human? Maybe next time you think you see something, you'll be smart enough to leave the Magnus out of this.”

 

Glancing at the twins, she spoke, voice low. “I know it was you, Sentinel.” she growled, glaring up at him.

 

The cocky bot snorted, “You have no proof, meat bag.” she did have proof, but that didn't mean she made her point.

 

Nell frowned, eyes narrowed. “I _know_ it was you. _You_ attacked Shylock, _you_ broke my fence, _you_ took a load of buckshot to the ass and screamed like a girl.” the human said, voice deepened. 

 

“I don't scream like girl!” the blue bot yelled, optics flashing for a second. 

 

“Shut the hell up!” Sentinel pulled back at that. Humans could be loud. That got the attention of most of the room. Blurr's optics widened from his place on the couch, and he streaked out of the room, abandoning the game he and Bumblebee had been playing. He had to get to Ultra Magnus. Magnus could shut Sentinel up. The speed demon would do it, gladly do it, but he had gotten quite the verbal thrashing for claiming that the Prime was acting 'Conish'. He hadn't been informed about the short female's earlier meeting with the leader.

 

Sentinel glared down at her, and turned to the jet twins. “Guys, you'll wanna stay away from this organic. They spit acid that can melt clear through to your wires, you know.”

 

“Wanna prove it?” Nell growled lowly. Sentinel bent down, grinning.

 

“I don't _have_ to prove it. I know.” he sneered. A split second later, Nell drew back, and spit on Sentinel Prime. After standing in shock for a moment, Sentinel Prime screamed and ran, swatting at his faceplate. The Jet twins looked at Nell, then went after their commander. “It got me! It fragging got me! GET IT OFF!” the twins followed him, not sure what to do.

 

Nell growled, fists clenched. “Bitch.”

 

“Okay! Time out! We gotta go!” Bumblebee's hands reached down and picked up the fuming human, bolting out of the room. Sentinel's screaming could be heard throughout the base. Ratchet could be heard, too, telling him to pipe down and go rinse off. The screaming bot wasn't listening. 

 

“Man, that guy's a glitch,” Bumblebee held Nellie up to his face, hands under her arms.

 

“Yeesh, you're gonna get ripped apart if you keep it up.” the yellow bot said, frowning. If he didn't get Nell out of there, she'd go yelling at someone else. If she wound up yelling at Ultra Magnus, oh boy. “Aw, man, you don't look good.” the woman's face was red, and she looked about ready to rip the entire planet a new one. Bumblebee could see her doing that, and it made his tank grow cold. Then, an idea.

 

“Hey, you know who can help? Prowl.” the yellow bot said, hiding a grimace. Nell looked like she was about to yell again, and he didn't want that. He didn't care that she spit in Sentinel's face plate. That glitch-head had it coming. There was a lot more to her angry mood than his being a jerk, Bumblebee knew that. Humans weren't _that_ hard to figure out. “Lets go find the ninja!” Nell made a grunting sound, and Bumblebee ran off to find Prowl. 

 

**X**

 

“When I am alone. When I have thrown off the weight of this crazy stone. When I have lost all care for the things I own...” the ninja-bot sang to himself, swaying a bit to the beat. He was singing, something he hadn't done in a while to avoid being glomped. The ninja bot was checking his main tree for trimming, smiling faintly. “That's when I miss you... that's when I miss you, you who are my home...” 

 

He heard his screen go up, and turned to see Bumblebee holding Nell at arms length, his teeth clenched in a worried frown. Prowl was with them in a second, setting the shears on his work table. “Bumblebee, what's going on?” he pulled back when Nell made a sharp hissing noise like a painful intake of breath, her hand to her side. “Nell? Bumblebee, what's wrong with Nell?”

 

“Prowl, seriously, I don't know what slagging happened. You gotta help her somehow. She's going to explode or something!” they both knew very well that humans didn't actually explode, but they still didn't want anything to happen. Prowl reached for Nell, but she held up a hand, glaring holes into the floor. She didn't want to be touched. “I think her voice is broken, she screamed pretty loud!” 

 

“She screamed?” he had heard yelling, but it was far too deep to be Nell. At least, he had thought it was. 

 

“Sentinel said something about her, and she screamed, and he said something about acid and she spit on him!” 

 

“What?” Prowl was shocked. He looked down at the yellow bot, and said, “Set her down, Bumblebee. I'll take care of this.” the smaller bot practically dropped the angry female and ran for the door, the screen dropping behind him. Prowl watched Nell stagger to her feet, walking around, her face contorted in anger. “Nell...” he started carefully. “Nell... talk to me. What's going on?”

 

The woman turned on him. “I know he hurt Shylock, Prowl. I _know_ Sentinel hurt my horse!” she yelled, pointing at the rafters. Prowl frowned and sat, listening. Her meeting with the Magnus didn't go well, he was guessing. “I know because I saw him! I saw him flee for the woods after I fired at him.” the woman's palm collided with her temple at the mention of knowing. “I know I didn't miss him, he screamed like a girl. No one will believe me, though. Oh, no, I'm just paranoid and haven't a damn clue what I'm talking about!” Nell was seething, not trying to keep herself calm. She was beyond mad at this point.

 

Prowl nodded. “What did Ultra Magnus say, Nell?”

 

The woman shuddered, eyes on the far wall. “He said, oh that son of a... argh!” she turned to Prowl, the corners of her mouth twitching. “When I told him what I saw, he said that 'my second in command was with the twins all of yesterday. They confirm that he was with them the entire time.' Bullshit! They're under his command, he can get them to lie!” 

 

Prowl nodded, and whirred. Sentinel _could_ get the Jet Twins to lie for him, but he had to wonder why they _would_. They liked Nell, but the chain of command came before friendship, unfortunately. The ninja bots mouth drew into a tight line. Why would Sentinel, if it really was Sentinel, do this kind of thing? He couldn't think it would gain anything... but, again, the blue bot wasn't known for thinking.

 

Nell gripped her head, growling. “Oh and SENTINEL just had to screw with me. I wanted to rip his face off!” she yelled, pacing in place out of utter frustration. “Had the balls to talk down to me. He's insane. Ultra Magnus thinks I'm the crazy one in all this. Sentinel attacks my horses and I'm the crazy one?!”

 

Prowl remained where he was, arms crossed, mouth to the side. The only thing that gave away his thoughts were his visor, which was narrowed. The dark bot was understanding what he was hearing, but he was still worried. No matter what Nell did, things piled up. If not her brother running off, her horses were in danger. Stress from every direction.

 

“I didn't want to come here because I didn't want to yell at you! _Too late for that now!_ ” Nell yelled, hanging her head. The angry human settled stiffly on the floor, breathing heavy. She put her hands to her forehead. “No matter what I do, nothing changes. Nothing _ever_ changes,” she growled softly. Prowl bit his lower lip lightly, practically feeling the rage coming off her in waves. He crept close, silently, and got to his knee joints, leaning forward on his hands. Nell growled, fingers gripping her head. “...please don't stare at me.” 

 

The dark bot raised his hands, and very carefully placed them on hers. He pushed them back to cover her ears, looking at her anger-wrought face. His spark hurt at seeing her so troubled. Prowl took her hands in his, pulling them toward him, lowering them into her lap. The concerned bot placed his hands on her shoulder's, fingers on her back. He understood her anger, but digging her nails into her head wasn't going to help.

 

Her back was like a brick wall to his touch. She was so locked up it was a wonder she could even talk. He had to calm her down. “Nell...” the ninja bot said quietly, visor flattened. He saw something, and gaped at the slowly growing red spot on her left side. “You're bleeding!”

 

The woman looked at him, then the red spot, her brows pinched tightly. “I gotta go.”

 

But Prowl held her down, trying not to show how panicked he felt. He wasn't a medic, but any bot with a working processor would know that humans weren't supposed to leak. At least, not from there... “No, you don't.”

 

“Prowl, I'm fine.” she said, hoping the bot would let her up. No such luck, though.

 

He moved his hands down her arms and back to her shoulder's. “Listen to me. I know you don't want me to worry about you,” he tried to keep his voice even, trying to stay in control. “but you're _bleeding_. You already know I won't harm you, Nell.”

 

“It's not that bad, calm down.”

 

Prowl frowned, visor pinched at the center. “I'm not letting you go until we fix that injury.”

 

She frowned back at him, teeth clenched, voice deepening. “I'm _fine_. It just opened up 'cause of me flailing around like an id-”

 

He cut her off. He was done arguing. “You're not an idiot for getting mad, but refusing help doesn't make you look very smart.” he took her arm, hand wrapping around it carefully. 

 

Nell wasn't sure what to do about this. This felt weird. She was too angry to move. Prowl kept talking, though. “I can feel your pulse. Stop thinking of what went wrong... listen to me...” Prowl's hand moved away from her, only to be placed on her back, rubbing very careful circles into it. “Listen, please... I know you, Nell. You've always accepted my help before. You're angry, I understand that, but I am _not_ letting you go.” he said sternly, moving his hand in a slow figure eight on her tight back, free hand moving down to her shirt. “Let me help you.”

 

Even though she really wanted to tell him to back off, tell him to got to hell and leave her alone, she couldn't say no. Not to him. “...fine.”

 

Now given the 'okay', Prowl grabbed the hem of her shirt, and braced himself for the worst. It wasn't that bad, really, when he looked at it. He still wasn't happy that she was hurt to the point of bleeding, but it wasn't nearly what he expected. It was a flesh wound, thank Primus, and it wasn't bleeding too heavily. That didn't really calm him, though.

 

Prowl did _not_ like blood. It unnerved him. It smelled bad to him, and when he thought about what it was, and where it came from, his tank would churn. Seeing it coming from Nell, seeing it leak from the large gash on her side, the ninja bot had to cycle his vents a few times to keep calm. “...I'm calling Ratchet.” the human huffed, grumbled, but stayed still. “Ratchet? Nell has an injury, and I don't think moving her is a good idea. Do you think you can talk me through it?”

 

The medic rumbled on his end of the line. _“What's the damage?”_

 

He looked at the gash, teeth clenched. Nell had her head the other way, looking away from him. Whether she was ashamed or angry, Prowl didn't know. She wasn't happy about this, but she'd have to get over it. “A gash, skin deep, somewhat healed. Some of it is bleeding. There are... four bandages over it. Three inches long.” did she even _try_ to fix it properly?

 

“Dammit, it's not that bad.” Nell mumbled, looking at him crossly. “Ratchet, I know you're there, it's not that-” with that, Prowl covered her mouth with his fingertips and frowning. “Mph!”

 

“Shh... relax,” he said quietly, visor flattened and narrow. The woman glared at him, but she didn't say anything. “She told me earlier that it's a few days old.”

 

“ _That's an easy fix either way. You've got what ya need in your room, I think. There should be a first aid kit by the door. Ya see it?”_

 

Prowl looked, and sure enough, one was there, unopened and waiting. “Yes,” it sat on a fire extinguisher case, the white plastic dusty and yellowed. The dark bot took the box in his free hand, and went back to Nell, setting the box down beside her. “I have it.”

 

“ _Alright, halfway done. Open it, there should be a roll of gauze in there, and some spray on disinfectant. Take off her old bandages first, or she's gonna be one cranky midget.”_ the medic sounded like he was smiling.

 

“She... is already.” he said. The ninja bot didn't like calling Nell a midget. She was small, not a midget. “Easy...” he said, reaching for the dark red bandages. The woman flinched at his touch, but it was more from the gash being inflamed than anything. “Two more, Nell,” the dark bot said quietly, removing the nasty strips and pinching them into a ball. He popped the top on the box, and sifted around, taking out a spray bottle. He could read human lettering, but the print was small. There was a roll of gauze, and he set that by the bottle. “Ratchet, I have the supplies.”

 

“ _Good. Ya get the bandages off?”_

 

“Yes.” the dark bot said. Nell still wasn't looking at him, but that was fine.

 

“ _Alright, now, spray the disinfectant on the wound. Then wrap the gauze around her stomach. Don't worry about cuttin' it, just make it snug.”_

 

Doing as the medic said, Prowl sprayed her side, frowning when she flinched. It must have stung. “Is that all I have to do?”

 

“ _Other than tape it, you're good to go.”_

 

“Nell,” Prowl said quietly, “I have to ask why would you hide this from me.” she didn't say anything. “I'm not angry with you, I only wish to know why.” Prowl wrapped the gauze around her middle, frowning.

 

After a few minutes of her staring at his hands as they worked, he got an answer. “Sometimes,” she mumbled, voice low, looking at her legs. “It's easier to hide.”

 

“True, it is easier,” he said quietly, going around her abdomen again, pulling the gauze taut. Prowl smoothed the gauze carefully over her injury, then took her hand to cover the loose end. He picked through the box, and pulled out a roll of surgical tape. “But is it better?” He tore off a piece, and moved her hand again, taping the gauze down, smoothing it with his knuckles.

 

“...I don't know.” and she meant it. She didn't know why she hid it from him.

 

Prowl pulled down her shirt, glancing at the dried bloodstain. Nell looked more than a little unhappy. The dark bot thought about it, and carefully pulled her into a hug from behind, watching her wound. She needed one, from his view of things.

 

“Eep!” Nell squirmed when he did that, not sure what he was doing. She was in his lap, his throat behind her head. The woman sat still, listening to him. Nell leaned back just a little, her head touching his throat. He didn't seem to mind, he may not even have noticed. She liked the hug, as weird as it was to get one without asking.

 

She moved to stand up, but his arms wouldn't budge. He leaned by her ear, muttering with concern and just a hint of warning. His lips grazed her ear as he spoke. “Don't do this to yourself again. You worried me, Nell. If there is ever a time like this again, let it out. I'll do everything I can to help you. Holding it in will just build it up.” the dark bots mouth tightened a bit. “And then you really might explode...” he let his arms relax, and Nell slowly got out of his lap. 

 

They were silent for a while. Nell spoke quietly, looking at the floor. “I think I should apologies to Sentinel for...” she made a hand gesture like an open palmed shrug. “That.”

 

Prowl frowned. “Only if you think you need to.” He didn't want her anywhere near that bot. He got her to a point where she growled and ranted. Sentinel wasn't good for anyone. “But I think if you do, I should be there.”

 

She could agree to that. “Prowl, I spit on him. That's low, really low.” he nodded, and she smiled. “Can... I stay in here for a while?” Nell shuffled her feet a bit. “I, uh, don't really want to go out there yet.”

 

Prowl smiled. “Stay as long as you like.” Nell blinked, and laid down on her back, staring at the ceiling. Prowl trimmed his tree, humming 'Orange Sky' quietly. It had become a habit to sway to the rhythm, eventually working up to singing it. “Well I had a dream I... I stood beneath an orange sky.” the black bot sang quietly. “With my brother standing by.”

 

“You're amazing, you know.” Nell said to him, smirking. He looked at her, visor widening.

 

“Ah...” his mouth was a bit open. She grinned up at him, propped up on one elbow.

 

“Well, you are. I'm not just saying it, either. It's true.” she smiled a full smile. Nothing lopsided about it. “You're patient, and calm, and you listen. Not everyone does that. Hell, you've seen me at my worst, but you didn't tell me off.” Nell rolled onto her stomach. “You didn't have to help me, but you did.” her smile looked a bit sad now, but it was still there. “You're real. That's the only way I can put it.” Nell stood up, smiled at him, and left his room. “I'll... be right back. Gonna ask Sari for a clean tank top...”

 

For a while, Prowl just stood there. That was... sudden. It was honest but it was so abrupt. The black bot hadn't seen that side of Nell before. “Real?” he said to himself. That was what he was to her. That simple word made him feel light on his feet. He didn't know why, but he broke into a wide grin, fingertips on his chest plate. He chuckled. The bot felt happy, and his spark was warm and pulsating. Prowl climbed up to the roof, looking at the setting sun, and laughed quietly. He was really beneath an orange sky, but... but he wasn't dreaming.


	30. Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CHINBOT MAD! PROWL MAD! EVERYONE IS FUCKING MAD! Cept Jazz. He's always chill.

Chapter Thirty: Rage.

 

_Anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; and concealed often hardens into revenge. ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton_

 

**X**

 

The sun was setting, and the rec-room was empty. Where had everybody run off to? Nell could only guess that the Elite guard were all on their ship. The woman sighed and ran a hand through her pale hair. She really wanted a tank-top that wasn't damp with blood, but Sari was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Sari at the plant today. That was unusual...

 

“Who are you looking for, meat bag?” hearing the now too familiar insult, Nell's throat close up. She swallowed, breathing slowly, turning to the voice. “Gonna spit on me again?” the dark blue bot was standing in front of the door, smirking. She didn't even hear him.

 

“Actually, I'm here to apologize.” Nell said carefully. That was a partial truth. She didn't want to apologize to him, but she had hoped that it would smooth things over. She should have known better.

 

“I don't think so, human,” Sentinel growled, showing his teeth in a grin.

 

Nell glared, backing up. “Sentinel, don't do something stupid here...” she said quietly. Sentinel went from taunting to angry too fast for Nell's liking. It didn't take an expert to see this guy was more than just mean. Something was wrong with him. Something bigger than an attitude problem or an inflated ego.

 

The bot staggered forward, optics hot white. “You shut the frag up, filthy sack of flesh,” he growled, pointing at her. “You... you made me look like a fool in front of my commander! And my subordinates!”

 

“Oh, really, well. I didn't think you needed help looking stupid in front of people. Maybe if you left me alone, this stuff wouldn't happen.” why did she keep talking? He was going to crush her or something.

 

“I said _shut up_ , filthy parasite!” the dark blue bot snarled. Nell backed up, feeling her stomach shrink and sink down, feeling this was going to end badly.

 

“Touch me, and I'll scream.” the woman snarled back, voice low and deep. Where was everyone? It was too early for recharge. What was going on? She'd scream even if he didn't touch her. Prowl was bound to hear her. The dark blue bot paused, and suddenly a bright disc appeared on his wrist, a long, sharp, blue point appearing in the other hand. Nell backed away, heart pounding. He was armed, and he was angry.

 

“You know what this is?” Sentinel asked. He pointed the lance tip at her arm, and she felt the icy-hot waves it produced. It didn't look sharp, but it was an Cybertronian weapon. It was deadly, she knew that much. “If I were to _slip_!” he buried the tip in the wall, leaving a smoking dent. Nell bit the inside of her cheek, still staring at him. He looked to the side, pulling the lance back. “Or, maybe _trip_!” the lance slid just over her head. “I could offline you,” he got close, growling. “ _if_ I wanted to.” he said with a smirk, biting back a laugh at her obvious fear.

 

“You're trash. You are a pile of garbage, Sentinel. Do you see how stupid it is to threaten a being that can't defend itself?” she mumbled. The woman was terrified. This was way too close to what had happened a few years ago. Her heart was thundering, her breathing shallow. Nell crawled along the wall, hoping someone would walk in and get this asshole away from her. He followed her, lance pointing her way, shield up, keeping her cornered, optics blazing hot white. Oh no, she had walked into a corner. Nell was trapped on all sides, just like before. “...shit.”

 

“Oh... now you get it, huh meat bag?” the blue bot growled, sneering down at her. Sentinel laughed at the human slowly sinking to the floor. “See, you little glitch?” he dragged shield spikes down the wall, making the woman flinch away at the scraping noise. “You're nothing but a smudge if it's what I want.” he pulled back, glowering at her frightened form. “Ultra Magnus isn't dumb enough to believe some stupid glitch like you. I could slag you, and get off, and there is _nothing_ you can _do_ about it.” He stabbed the lance sharply into the wall, leaning forward with it holding him up. “You still wanna mess with me, glitch?”

 

In her mind, she heard the slurred words again... _'You want it that bad, fagot?'_ Nell, her mouth open and knees braced together, wrapped her arms around her stomach. Her breathing grew erratic, eyes staring blankly at the gap between the blue bots feet. If she dove, she could make it, but Nell couldn't move for anything. Terror had her locked.

 

From above, a black and gold blur landed between the two with a hard clang. Sentinel's lance remained in the wall, his hand coming away as he backed up from shock. With his teeth bared, and his visor pinched in the center, Prowl stood up, shurikens at the ready, head down, voice quiet and angry. “Step away from my human, you slag heap.” he growled low in his vocal processor, extending the blades, poised and angry.

 

Nell's mind went back to that awful night. Sari's hands had expanded, and she had yelled. 'Don't touch her!' Then the man growled, and was sent into a wall... oh no. Prowl's pose, Sentinel's look. It was happening again!

 

Sentinel snorted, raising an eyebrow at the angry ninja. “Make me, you stupid ninja.”

 

“Gladly.” Prowl braced his arms against the walls, kicking Sentinel's chest with a harsh grunt, knocking him off balance and onto his back. Before the fallen bot could stand, Prowl threw his shurikens, one glancing a shoulder shovel, the other stabbing the back of Sentinel's hand.

 

He pulled out the weapon, and ran at the ninja bot, screaming. Prowl jumped up, tackled him, and pulled back a fist, aiming for the left optic. He kept hitting until he heard something crack. Sentinel howled and swung his shield, missing by inches. Prowl growled and punched Sentinel again, fracturing the optic lens. Sentinel bellowed at him, swinging again, just grazing the black bots chassis, peeling away shaving of glass and paint. The two rolled a few times, before Prowl came out on top, a hand around Sentinel's throat.

 

Then, Nell screamed. She screamed just like she did that night. But this time, she stood up and ran. She ran past Prowl, panting and wobbling. “Nell!” The black bot looked down at Sentinel, baring his teeth. He growled. Sentinel growled back, swinging at him again. Prowl punched him again, shattering the bots optic lens. “You...” the ninja bot squeezed Sentinel Prime's throat with one hand, ready to punch with the other. There were voices, lights, and Prowl was suddenly yanked back, held around the waist, arms pinned at his sides. “Let go!” the Elite Guard had entered, along with most of the Earth crew.

 

“Easy, man, easy!” even though Jazz had him held firm, Prowl continued to writhe. “C'mon, bro! I don't wanna use the cuffs on you.” Prowl, anger still flowing through him, stilled, resisting a growl. Sentinel was already up and coming at the two, but he was tackled by Blurr, who soon had Sentinel's arms behind his back. He glared down at a leaking and terrified Sentinel, who was being examined by Ratchet.

 

“You-stupid-glitch-you-stupid-pit-slagging-glitch!” the speed demon sputtered, hoisting the Prime up to seat him on his skid plate. Optimus stood next to Blurr, frowning at the cuffed bot. If he tried to get up again, he'd put him down hard.

 

Ultra Magnus was far from amused. He looked around the room, then at the medic. “Ratchet, how damaged is Sentinel Prime?”

 

“He's lucky, sir. Couple of scratches and dings. That hand's an easy fix.” the medibot glared darkly at the half-blind bot. “But your optic lens... that's gonna have to be covered until I can make a matching replacement.”

 

Sentinel whimpered a bit. “H-how long will that take?” he acted like he wasn't sure what was going on, or, maybe, why he was cuffed.

 

Ratchet placed a small patch of metal over the damaged optic, welding it so it just stayed on. “Long enough.” he grumbled. Ultra Magnus blinked, mouth a flat line.

 

“Jazz, take Prowl to the ship. I want him held under your guard until I contact you. Inform Jetfire and Jetstorm to remain on the ship as instructed. Understood?”

 

“Yes, Commander.” Jazz pulled Prowl along, hoping his friend would stay calm for a while.

 

Magnus blinked in irritation. He turned sharply to Sentinel, letting anger bleed through his normally composed voice. This went too far. Something had to be done. “Sentinel Prime, you are to be held in the ships brig for the next five Earth days. After that you will be on probation for a certain amount of time.”

 

“But sir-”

 

Ultra Magnus narrowed his optics, cutting off any room for argument. “The next. Five. Days.” he turned his head to Optimus. “Optimus Prime, escort Sentinel Prime to the ship. Agent Blurr will take care of his containment.”

 

Optimus was obviously upset by what Sentinel had done, and it took a lot to keep from hitting him. The speed demon next to him frowned, deciding it best to keep his thoughts private. The grip he had on Sentinel's arm said if he had a shot, he might just tear it off.

 

Ultra Magnus frowned. “Autobots, return to your quarters. Ratchet, come with me.” Ratchet followed Ultra Magnus outside. Nell was pacing, going in a big circle. Ratchet frowned. She was still in one piece this time.

 

“Nellie, it's over. That glitch head can't hurt you.” Ratchet said. Nell wasn't listening. She had her hands around her stomach, walking in a circle.

 

Ultra Magnus had seen shock before. Sometimes when you went into shock, you couldn't move. In some cases you couldn't stop moving. Nell seemed to be the type that wouldn't stop moving. “Helena.” He said flatly. Nell froze and looked at the bot, her mouth twitching. Magnus got to one knee, supporting himself with the hammer. She was still frightened. He knew his presence was intimidating to a lot of people, which was why he had bent down. Nell didn't seem to be one of them. “Sentinel Prime has been detained. You must calm down.”

 

“...mmm...mm-MM!” She held her hands up, backed away, and turned around. Nell made a rasping noise, hit her knees, and threw up. Ultra Magnus blinked. Now this was bad. He pulled back to stand up, anger etching his face plate. “It's Nell, sir...” Nell mumbled.

 

Ratchet picked her up carefully, extending his maginifeye. “Just stay calm, Nell. Almost done...” He set her back down a moment later. Nell mumbled a thank you, walking over to a wall.

 

“Ratchet, evaluate the human female's condition.”

 

“Well sir... the damage is all in her head, so to speak. Sentinel didn't actually hurt her, but... uh...how can I put this,” he looked down at Nell, who was now sitting by a trashcan. “She had a flashback, I'm guessing. There was an incident a few years ago. She had been attacked in a similar way, and for just as pointless a reason. So, any real damage is over and done with. But bringing all that up again isn't good for her mental health.”

 

“And your evaluation of Sentinel Prime?”

 

“He'll be fine in a few days, if you want his physical health. But as for my 'evaluation' of his actions, It doesn't look good, sir. Something has to give, or someone's gonna end up in the medbay.” as angry as he was at the dark blue bot, yelling in front of Nell might cause her throwing up again. The medibot didn't want that. “I'm thinking this isn't some organic hater trying to squish a human.” The old medibot tapped his scratched helm. “He may have some sort of damage from a battle or a bump. I'll scan him later, sir.”

 

Ultra Magnus nodded, lowering his voice. “This is what I had wanted to avoid. Sentinel Prime has gone too far. We will discuss what is to be done once we have decided on confinement.”

 

Ratchet nodded, and frowned. “I heard she told you about seeing some bot on her property.”

 

The Magnus nodded again. “This is true. She claimed to have seen Sentinel Prime leaving her property after firing upon him. I believed this to be false until you told me your thoughts about Sentinel. Jetfire and Jetstorm had confirmed that they had been training with Sentinel, but I doubt that now.”

 

Ratchet whirred, glancing at the human.

 

**X**

 

“I shouldn't have let her go alone.” Prowl grumbled. Jazz was sitting in a chair, awaiting further orders from Ultra Magnus. The white bot let his friend ramble.

 

“You had no idea Sentinel'd be out. Look on the bright side, man.”

 

“Bright side?” Prowl asked with a huff. “Jazz, at look what happened.”

 

Jazz nodded. “Uh huh... and what happened, exactly?”

 

“He attacked her! You had to pull me off of that... that slagger.” Jazz didn't recall the darker bot swearing like that.

 

“Yeah... before that. Heard that Nellie lost her cool, and Bumblebee took her to you.” Jazz gave a lopsided frown. “So... whatcha do, man? How'd you cool her down?”

 

Prowl tilted his head at him. “I... did... what I would do for anyone who was like that.”

 

“Which was?”

 

He looked at the wall, like something was staring at him. “I let her talk about all that went wrong. Some of it was her fault, but...” Prowl's mouth twitched. “Nell blamed herself for everything. When she was done, I touched her... moved her hands to read her face. I don't think I've seen a human so hurt.”

 

“Whatcha get from her, man?” Jazz asked.

 

The dark bot frowned, thinking of how tight her back was, how angry she had been. “It was like touching a brick wall. I haven't experienced much with humans.”

 

“Mhmm. I've heard they can lock up pretty tight when they get stressed out.” Jazz said with a nod.

 

Prowl's mouth twitched again. “I was worried.”

 

“So, that all ya did?”Jazz asked. He had to know what had happened for the report he'd have to fill out.

 

“No... I had to get rid of the tension. I rubbed her back, I felt her heartbeat,” Prowl gave a lopsided frown. “But I saw something... she was bleeding. She had been injured a few days ago, and she... reopened it.” Prowl stopped. “I dressed her wound. I hugged her. I had her in my lap to soothe her. I pressed her to my chest so she could feel my spark.”

 

A pause. “You... had her in ya lap?” Jazz asked. Prowl was certain the white bot was raising an eyebrow at him.

 

“That's beside the point!” Prowl snapped. Since when did Prowl snap?

 

Jazz tilted his head, and leaned forward, elbows on knees and fingers laced. “Tell me this, Bro.”

 

Prowl looked at the fellow ninja, visor narrowed and pinched in its center.

 

Jazz smiled at him. “Why are you so easy when it comes to her?”

 

Prowl whirred. “What?”

 

“Man, you're a total loner. Don't go callin' me crazy, cuz we all know ya'll prefer the whole solitude thing. There ain't nothing wrong with that, but I gotta wonder. What does she do that pulls you from the dark, anyway?”

 

Prowl sat down. “...she's my friend.”

 

“Think 'bout it, man. There's gotta be a reason.”

 

The darker bot thought about it for a minute. “Nell is... honest, curious, protective of those she cares about.” those were reasons, but there had to be more to it. She had hid that injury from him. She didn't know he didn't like blood, so that couldn't be why.

 

“Do you get angry when people treat her wrong?”

 

“I... wouldn't say angry.” he didn't _get_ angry.

 

“Dude, ya broke SP's optic. Takes some real force to do that kinda thing.”

 

The dark bot frowned. “He had Nell on her knees with his weapons drawn! What was I supposed to do?”

 

Jazz shrugged, unaffected by the sudden yelling. Being stuck on a ship with Sentinel for so long got him used to people yelling, especially for no reason that really needed yelling. “Move her out the way maybe?”

 

Prowl resisted snorting. “Why? So he could go after her again?” he leaned against the wall, arms crossed tight against his scratched chassis. At the slight twinge of pain, he realized he had been injured. Why didn't he notice before?

 

Jazz shook his head. “Not what I meant. Take SP down, get her out of there, get me or Magnus.”

 

“I wasn't thinking. I had to get her to safety, and he was right there with his lance and shield, grinning. He acted like it was a game.” he mumbled, arms going slack at his sides. Jazz stood up, crossing his arms.

 

“Course ya weren't thinkin', man ...” he walked close to the dark bot, grinning when he looked up. “Ya love her.”

 

Prowl's arms went up, visor widening. “Uh... what?”

 

Jazz chuckled. “Prowl, I ain't jokin'. You're in love with Nell.”

 

The ninja bot chirruped. “...no, I'm not.” the ninja bot said flatly.

 

Jazz cocked his head, grinning. “Aw, man, don't be like that. You try telling yourself that, but you fell for the brown eyed girl. What? You like 'em with baby blues?” the white bot said.

 

“They're amber,” Prowl paused, mouth open. Jazz' grin widened, nodding. “Slag,” he sighed.

 

“Slag?” Jazz said disbelievingly. “Prowl, love is the best feelin' in the world.”

 

He gave a quiet sigh. “Jazz, it isn't that easy. I'm an Autobot. She's a human. What could a human see in one of us beyond a friend?” he had remembered the things Nell had done that confused him. How she had been so open about her beliefs, or lack of. How she would giggle at things he would say. That time a month ago when she tried to kiss him...

 

Jazz chuckled. “How 'bout crush?” he said, grinning. “I had a crush on a human. Sweetest girl I have ever met. She's a guitarist from way downtown. I've been doin' all I can to see her. I met her a while after we arrived. First time on Earth an' I get all giddy over a 19 year old girl.” his faceplate darkened just a bit, hardly enough to notice. “Name's Paige.”

 

Prowl's visor widened. “What happens when you leave?”

 

“I ain't gonna let it stop me from likin' her.” he held his hands out, palms up. “I do everything I can. I meet her on the same corner every time we land. Well, I did.” he frowned. “SP ain't only rainin' on your parade. He does everything _he_ can to keep me away from Paige.” he put his hands on his hips. “I ain't seen her in the last three times we've been here.” Jazz actually seemed upset by that, but he rebounded in a nanosecond. “Point is man, don't let anything stop you. You're in love! Even if she ain't into you, stay friends.” his smile turned soft. “Who knows?”

 

Prowl was silent. If Nell didn't love him, and just wanted to be friends... he could handle that. He was certain he could handle that. But if that were the case, he wouldn't _want_ that.

 

“Ain't no harm in lettin' your feelin's show,” the white bot said.

 

“Jazz,” Prowl groaned. “It's not that easy.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Look at me.” he said flatly, visor pinched in the center.

 

“Okay.” Jazz looked at Prowl, tilting his head. “I'm looking... I'm looking... I'm _still_ looking...”

 

“This isn't a joke! Do I look _right_ for her?” he didn't think so. He, a thin, dark, metal being, her, a tan, squishy, warm human. Opposites may attract, but there was a limit to that kind of thing!

 

The white bot crossed his arms. “...matter of fact, ya do.” Jazz said with a nod.

 

Prowl whirred, cocking his helm, visor shifting. “I do?”

 

“I mean it. Think about it. Nell is a human. A fragile, gentle, and kinda loud creature, who don't like being pushed around. She ain't too shy, and she's got some problems. She needs a rock, someone to just be there. That ain't bad, now is it? She ain't perfect, but she's good. And you?” Jazz smiled at his fellow ninja. “You're an Autobot. A strong, intelligent, kind warrior, who wants what's best for that human. Ya ain't the most _social_ bot in the galaxy, but you sure don't mind comin' on out of the dark to see _her_. You're stable and relaxed, and ya don't like it when _anyone_ pushes Nell around. Like it or not, you fit her like a glove. If nothing else, you're a great friend. Am I reachin' you, bro?” he smiled softly.

 

Prowl thought about what Jazz had said, and smiled. “You are, Jazz. ...you are.” he knew it was true.

 

“Magnus just called. Ratchet took Nell home a few minutes ago. Said to put you in the brig.”

 

Prowl nodded. “For how long?” he asked carefully.

 

Jazz shrugged. “An Earth day. Optimus is gonna put you on probation or something when ya get out.” he took Prowl by the elbow, but he didn't need to. “Least you'll have some time to think.” the white bot said. He lead the bot into the brig, and walked down the row. All the cells looked alike. Jazz opened the cell on the far end.

 

“Why am I down here?” he asked.

 

“I'm gonna keep you and SP as far from each other as I can. You may be locked up, but I know you can get out if you wanted to.” he closed the door, looking in through a crack. “See ya in a day, Prowler.” and with that, Prowl was closed off from the world.

 

The ninja bot folded his legs, offlined his optics, and tried to meditate. Instead, he fell into recharge.

 

**X**

 

In another part of the brig, far away from the black and gold ninja, someone was thinking. “Pay...” he growled, intact optic flickering hot white in the dark. “That stupid glitch will pay!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pours gas onto trash fire* shit's legit.


	31. Snap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole sleeps. Starscream flies. Sarah dreams. Starscream is bad at love and fucks up royally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously. If you get triggered by depictions of non-con stuff, skip the end of this chapter and also avoid the next. It gets bad.

Chapter Thirty One: Snap

 

_One is very crazy when in love.~ Sigmund Freud._

 

**X**

 

A day passed, a full, twenty four hour day, and Cole hadn't moved. He still had a pulse, he still breathed, he was still a blond, eighteen year old human male with issues, but he hadn't moved. What human could sleep for a full day?

 

Cole could, and he did. Shockwave checked on him every few hours, just to be certain that he was alive. Megatron could tell Cole was alive, but having Shockwave confirm it was somewhat reassuring. Still, he couldn't concern himself with the human at the moment. His speech was complete, and it was high time he delivered.

 

With the transmitter online, and the speech in hand, Megatron began. “Fellow Decepticons, hear me! Your leader has not abandoned you to drift among the stars. Although I remain trapped on this primitive world, I am far from surrender. Rest assured, I shall not remain on this distant speck for long. My return is imminent, although far too slow in coming, for both your desire as well as mine. Stand strong against Autobot oppression, and we shall rise up as one!” he then cut the feed, grinning. Short, but to the point. That was what mattered.

 

There was a quiet clapping sound behind him, and the Decepticon turned to find Cole, fully awake, his pale face a mix of wonder and confusion. “Oh, so you do function, human?”

 

Cole blinked, rubbing an eye with his palm. “Kinda woke me up, Megatron. You're voice... can't ignore it.” not when he was sleeping, and not when he was awake. “That the thing you were working on?” he said, standing up on aching legs. He had to pee.

 

“Yes.” he had to wonder what the human heard, if anything at all.

 

“Huh?” the blond asked, turning to him. “Kinda waking up, gotta talk louder.” he unzipped his pants, and frowned. “Hurry it up, I gotta pee.” he grumbled. A day of uninterrupted sleep, and a minute of talking to Megatron wore him out. What was wrong with him? Oh, right, those days without sleep. Well, the buzzing had stopped. Hadn't Megatron said to stop the buzzing? Hell, he couldn't even see straight, let alone remember what the hellion had said. Pee now, think later. Good plan.

 

The Decepticon looked at the human. There was something he said that made him wonder about the seemingly innocent male. He mentioned someone named Jake during his strange, sleep deprived 'monster' rant. Cole may have had the 'cute and naive' look down- and he did, Megatron wasn't going to deny that- but he wasn't playing the part. He only _looked_ that way... the silver and red hellion blinked, faceplate unchanging. “Who is Jake?”

 

Cole froze, the hand drifting downward pausing at his crotch. “He's... not important...” he zipped his pants again, and went back to the hammock.

 

“He must be, to go among the ranks of... Sarah's father.” he didn't remember the female's name at first, but why should he? She didn't matter, not to him. “So then, who is Jake?”

 

When Megatron got a hammock for his room, he didn't know. “I'm going back to bed.”

 

The silver and red Decepticon smirked, if only a bit. “You didn't go.”

 

“It can wait,” the human snapped, rolling over to try and ignore the giant robot. He looked over his shoulder. “I don't like it when people watch me pee, okay? Kinda perv,” he said, and lay still, eyes closed.

 

Megatron frowned. “I know you are awake, human.” but the little blond didn't budge. Oh well, he could ask later. There were more important things to handle at the time. Besides, Cole would have to answer him sometime.

 

**X**

 

Excited wasn't even close to what the seeker was feeling. Ecstatic got closer, but it still didn't match. Today was, and he was certain about not missing the take off time, the day for the canyons.

 

“Time to go.” he said, grinning into the tank. Sarah stirred, and looked up groggily. He knew well that she was not a morning person. He didn't know anyone who was.

 

“Go where?” it was too early to be up. Screwy bio-clock or not, it was way too early.

 

“The Ouimet canyons, female.” Starscream said, reaching into the tank. He held her up, her trying to go back to sleep in his hand. Funny, she was rather... _cute_ when half awake. Forget that it felt funny to think that, it seemed right. “Unless, of course, you changed your mind?” the human was curling up in his hand, squinting.

 

“Didn't change my mind... what time is it?” she said, sitting up to lean back on his claws. Sarah flinched a bit. She forgot how sharp they were.

 

“Oh, it's four AM. sharp.”

 

“What?!”

 

He shrugged, and opened his cockpit. “It's now or never, female.” he said as she crawled inside. He sealed himself up, and headed for the door. He felt her squirm and wiggle inside him, feeling every move she made. It was... odd. He had done this not long ago, but it was still odd.

 

“Hate to say this, Starscream,” Sarah said, turning around to look out through the gilded glass. “but it's pretty damn early for humans.” upon seeing her reflection, she closed her eyes. What an ugly creature.

 

The magenta seeker punched in the code, and stepped outside. He didn't hesitate in getting ready. He took long strides, gaining height with each bounce. “You'll want to get to the canopy, Sarah. We're going to take off!” no time to lose. There was a six minute time frame for take off, and if he missed it, they wouldn't get to Earth for a week. Time was everything in this. He liked a challenge, though...

 

“Ready?” he said, now running, arms pumping, fangs bared in a sky hungry grin.

 

“Yeah, I'm ready.” Sarah was wedged in the canopy. The glass was cold, ice cold, but it seemed to fit her perfectly. With a hard lunge that sent her lungs into her stomach, the pair were off the moon, hurtling through the black void of space. “Ahhhhhh!”

 

“Gahahah! I thought you said you were ready?” Starscream said, feeling Sarah half fall into his seat. “Oh, yes, these need to go on.” a set of tight straps flew over the female's shoulders, tugging her hard into the seat. “This way we can have some fun.” He didn't want her to crash into his canopy when he did a spin. That wouldn't end well.

 

“It will take some time to get to Earth, mind you. Not long for me, but for you,” he thought about it, and rocked a bit. “an hour.”

 

“Good...” she said, yawning. The adrenaline rush from the take off was still buzzing in her veins, but she was tired when they started this trek, and she wouldn't mind at least giving a nap a try. She was used to sleeping curled up, though. Force of habit more than anything. “It okay if I... try and sleep?”

 

“Hmm... why not?” Starscream said, taking a slow turn. “I'll let you know when we get close.”

 

She closed her eyes, then, “No spinning to get me up, okay?”

 

“Oh, take all the fun out of it, why don't you?” the seeker said, feigning disappointment. The female didn't say anything, so he let her be for now.

 

**X**

 

_It was evening... and autumn. Sarah took a step forward, but fell. She realized, looking down, that her left leg was gone from the knee down. Odd... no blood. She pushed herself onto her foot, and hopped forward. It didn't tire her, but she wasn't sure what was going on. She hopped along the dirt road, coming to a hill. “What's up there?” she asked. The wind blew, and the leaves that swirled around her rose up. They turned into butterflies, a thousand blue ones, that went over the hill. “Okay.” Sarah had no idea what was going on._

 

_Suddenly, the world shifted to the left, and she fell. Or, she would have, had a bobcat not been there. She landed on it, but it didn't fall. It, instead, pushed her up somehow, and grinned, showing its teeth. “Coming close.” it seemed to say, then, it ran over the hill, and she went with it. Her stomach moved downwards, and she heard a loud, familiar cackle. It seemed like she was leaning back, but... none of this made sense. Then she went down, and the world went dark._

 

**X**

 

Sarah awoke, and found she wasn't on a hill or road, but in Starscream's cockpit. Her leg fell asleep. The seeker was heading for the Earth, and was cackling just like in her dream. “Hahahah!” Starscream did a quick dip, feeling in the mood for a few tricks. Maybe a corkscrew, or a back flip!

 

“...hang on.” his voice said, and Sarah clutched the seat for dear life. She was strapped in, but still, this was terrifying and amazing, if more than a bit nauseating. Hell, she had only been awake for a minute! Starscream felt her grip tightening, smiling internally. He made a slow, gliding spin, coming back to his original position. He cackled at her death grip. “Having fun?”

 

“No!” it came out as a squeak.

 

Starscream rolled so that his cockpit faced the Earth. “Oh, really? Well, have a look outside, Sarah. You're sure to change your tune.” ah, puns, so much fun when teasing a human.

 

“I don't see wh-” she paused. “Wow...” she could see everything. It was beautiful. It looked like trees and sand... and the occasional shine from a car. All together, it was a sight like if she were in a glass bottom airplane. Sarah cocked her head, and asked the seeker, “Where are we right now?”

 

“The stratosphere, female, where else would we be?” Starscream said. He couldn't resist a joke.

 

The female sighed. “No, I mean... where above Earth are we?”

 

“Hmm... Somewhere over Canadia.”

 

She huffed as he glided in a large circle, canopy back to the skies. “It's Canada.”

 

She could practically hear his smirk. “That's what I said, Canadia.”

 

“It's... oh, screw it.” she said, slumping back into his seat.

 

“Oh, I'd love to!” he said, corkscrewing with another excited cackle.

 

“AHHHHHH!” Sarah was, once again, digging her stubby nails into the seat. Starscream didn't mind it, it didn't hurt. It stung, just a little, hardly there. Still, she had a good slagging grip!

 

“Hahahahaha! I knew you would enjoy this!” he should have known when he first took her from the planet that she was interested in flight. She was always looking at his wings. She had to have an interest in flying. Maybe more than interest. Maybe a desire for flight. Like him, maybe? He chuckled. “Maybe...” he dipped his nosecone down, dipping down fast and quick for a second.

 

“I think I'm gonna barf _andyouthinkI'mhaving_ _ **fun?!**_ ” she half screamed, eyes large as she was pressed into her seat.

 

“Oh, I know you're having fun!”

 

“You don't know sh-AHHHHH!” he went spiraling toward the ground, still cackling, before he pulled up, pressing her flat into his seat. “Oh god.” the human pulled herself out of the seat, surprised at how well it formed around her. What the hell was the seat made of? Memory foam?

 

“Lets find a place to land, shall we?” he said, a grin in his voice. He had scanned the area, and any humans that he could find were too far to see him, or his human. Great! No need to hide. He let the straps come loose, and thrust out his legs. “Get to the canopy!” and as soon as she was pressed to the glass, he transformed, landing hard on the ground. He smiled, and opened his cockpit, taking the human out. “So, what do you think?”

 

Once she was on the ground, she sat. “You're insane.” she meant it, too. That was one hell of a ride, but her stomach was still catching up with her.

 

“You should see me without a passenger.” he had gone easy on her. First time back on Earth for them both. It had been quite a while, for her as well as him. He wouldn't admit it, but he loved the sun. Cybertron was a world of night. The stars were always out. There were no clouds, no rain, no wind, even. The seeker had to admit, this planet had it's perks. “Ah, nothing like the sun on your wings.” it was true, there was nothing like it.

 

The human stumbled to her feet, and walked around, not going out of sight. She remembered when she was here as a ten year old. Before her father went off the deep end and... did things to her and her mother. She shook her head, frowning. It hadn't changed much, save for the spiders.

 

“Dammit!” he looked down at her, seeing her limbs flail about.

 

“Uhm... what are you doing?”

 

“Gah!” the human rubbed her face, and frowned up at him. “Spider web. Walked right into the dumb thing.”

 

“Oh?” he smiled, fangs poking through. “You know, I used to work with a femme that was half spider.”

 

Sarah blinked. “A half robot, half spider femme? You're shitting me, right?”

 

“I wish. She had the nastiest little habit of biting people.” the seeker smirked, holding her up by her pants. “She had her fangs on her back, and they came over her shoulders. That crazy femme's venom- oh yes, she had venom- was techno-organic. It took some time to recover from a bite.”

 

“...why did she bite you?” the human asked as she was set on his shoulder. It was a nice view, and there were no spiders up here.

 

“Let's just say my advances were... not _good enough_ for her.” rejecting a seeker, even one of his caliber, was more than a little angering.

 

“...crazy ass spider.” she muttered. The seeker smirked, and continued walking. “You just work with her or were there others?”

 

“Humph. There was an idiot named Lugnut. He and Blitzwing were always around each other. Blitzwing was a triple changer.”

 

“A what?”

 

“Oh, it's not important, really. He had three personalities, Icy, Hot, and Crazy. Not easy to get along with any of them. Especially Lugnut.” the magenta seeker looked at her, really looked at her, “Lugnut was a total Megatron fanatic. A walking ammo locker with an unhealthy obsession with a fool.”

 

“...who's Megatron?”

 

He paused in his walk. Had he never mentioned him to her? Megatron? The very con that made him fight back? Upgrade himself? Decide on this experiment that was currently on his shoulder? He blinked. “Megatron is the... leader of the Decepticons. Well, for now, at least.” he stepped around a fallen tree, and came to a short cliff. It was short to him, at least. It was barely his height. “He's a tyrant, A total tyrant. He's the leader of the Decepticons, but not for long.” he grit his teeth, optics glowing. He felt Sarah shift, and he frowned. “Do you know what he did the first time I rebelled?”

 

“What did he do to you?” she didn't really want to know, but he was going to tell her either way.

 

The seeker made eye contact with her, fiery crimson meeting burnt hazel. “He ripped my wings off.” Megatron didn't say anything, just grabbed his wings, stepped on his stomach plating, and pushed down. He had to walk around like a typical ground pounder for over a vorn before he got them back. It was the longest vorn of his life. Being grounded was a nightmare. A twig snapped, and the seeker straightened. People.

 

“That's sick. Whoa!” the human found herself clinging to his shoulder armor as the seeker jumped down the cliff, landing at the bottom. “The hell was that?”

 

“Humans. I heard them.” he said, looking around. They were behind them, coming through the trees. He ducked under the overhang, crouching. They were probably far away, but he was not about to be seen. “Quiet.” then they listened.

 

“Je n'ai pas entendu personne.”

 

“Eh bien, tu écoutais pas.”

 

“Blame moi. Qui fonctionne Neve”

 

“What are they saying?” he asked himself, voice a hiss of air. He could be quiet when he felt like it.

 

“It's French.” she whispered. Sarah grew up in a francophonic world, messed up as it was. She new a little French. Not enough to know what they were saying, but enough to get a vague idea. “They heard you, I think. I don't know much French.” suddenly, the seeker was on the move, and the voices faded away. He stuck near the canyon wall, and went into a deeper, lower part of the woods.

 

“Ah, here we are.” he didn't want anyone to see them. To be seen by a human meant he was a target. To be seen _with_ a human meant he was soft. He couldn't risk either. “Oh, look, a river.” the seeker wasn't bored, but he didn't have much to do on this mud ball. He set her down, and let her walk around. She took off her shoes, and stuck her bare feet in the river.

 

“Crap that's cold!” she said, scuttling away from the water. Sarah stood on the smooth pebbles, stretching her arms over her head. “Huh?” her arms stretched out before her, and she raised a thin eyebrow. “Uh... Starscream?”

 

“What?” he said with an equally confused look.

 

Sarah flexed. “...why do I have muscle?” she did. Not much, but she had muscle. Enough to make soft lines on her skin.

 

“Ah, that.” he grinned, looking down at her. “I set the gravity on the ship to give more pull than on Earth. About ten... what are they called? Oh, pounds.” the human blinked at him, and he shrugged. “It isn't as if I could order you to exercise, human.”

 

She stared at him, then laughed. He whirred. He realized he had never heard her laugh before. He didn't even know if he had seen her smile. “Ha!” she was flat out laughing, grinning at him. She was smiling at him. “Smart.”

 

It felt... right.

 

**X**

 

The sun was setting. A daily event that people either wanted to see or ignored completely. It was just starting, the sky fading away into yellow and a hint of green. Of the few things he liked about the planet, the sunset was one of them. Time passed quickly on this planet. They were back in the canyon, his back to a wall, Sarah on the ground.

 

Sarah glanced at him over her shoulder. “...I miss the moon.” then she was quiet, watching the sunset with him. “I liked the trip here... but you got me used to the moon.” she never thought she would miss the tank. It had become home. She didn't like that she was in a tank, but it was home. A home made of metal, ions and opera.

 

Starscream looked at Sarah. He looked at every detail, slim face unchanging. Shoulder length hair in a sloppy, dirt blond mop. Narrow shoulder's and waist, almost too narrow. She was thin, with long fingers that ended in square tips. No curves at all. She didn't smile often, she didn't laugh, she rarely looked happy. He had heard her laugh once, and it was only today. Despite the sunset, in all it's yellow and blue fading ways, he was looking at her. “You're lovely...”

 

Two words. Two, simple, unplanned words that he couldn't take back. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take it back, even if he could.

 

“...bull.” she said bitterly. Lying asshole. He ruined the moment, stupid lying robot...

 

The seeker chirruped. “Bull?”

 

“You're lying.” she muttered, hoping he didn't hear, that he'd let it go. No luck.

 

Starscream's optic twitched. “Am I?” he hissed. He wasn't lying. At least he didn't _think_ he was lying.

 

Sarah turned her back on him. The last time she cried in front of him, he cut himself open and shot himself in the head. She wasn't about to have that happen again. “You goddamn liar,” from behind, gray talons grabbed her middle, and with a dizzy heave, she was pinned to the canyon wall, Starscream bearing his fangs in all their imposing glory. He had snapped.

 

“Why are _you_ so blind to the _truth_?” he hissed. He pushed hard, pinning her to the sandy canyon wall with his palm, claw tips digging in to form a cage. Sarah swallowed, wrapping her arms around his fingers. The seeker smirked at her, optics slitted and glowing. That wasn't right. His optics didn't normally do that. He rubbed a free claw on her head, barely petting her hair. Sarah grunted, trying to tell him to let go, kicking her legs futilely.

 

Starscream snarled at her struggling, leaning in close to her face. He bared his fangs, opening his mouth, hissing. His dark gray glossa slithered out, skimming her cheek and neck. Sarah flinched, and the hand pushed harder. The seeker growled at her, his free hand moving to her shirt. He slipped a claw into her shirt sleeve, jerking it to rip. His glossa slid across the exposed skin, growling when Sarah turned her face away.

 

The teen would have screamed could she breath. What was he going to do? Something sharp grazed her shoulder. Fangs... oh damn, not the fangs! She squirmed when that tongue thing he had pressed her stomach. It wasn't wet, but it felt weird. It felt like a silicone baking pan, but hot and made of liquid or gel. It was rubbing in a circle. Then the fangs went on her bare shoulder, pushing down, and others pushed up, from her rib-cage. Oh shit, he was going to bite her... but why? She kicked again, hitting his arm, hoping he'd let her go.

 

Starscream snapped back to reality, optics ceasing their glow. What in the pit was he _doing?!_ Starscream pulled away, staring at the human under his hand, mouth agape. He didn't know why his hands were shaking, but he knew he had pinned Sarah to a canyon wall and attacked her with his glossa. It didn't make sense... none of this made sense! Not the warmth in his spark chamber, not the guilt when he let her down, not that he found her even remotely attractive! She was human, a pathetic, worthless insect! A test subject for his sick little project! What in the pit was _happening_ to him?!

 

His face went blank, and slowly, mindlessly, the seeker set Sarah on the ground, backing away. He turned to the direction of the sun, staring at that massive ball of light before finally sitting. It dawned on him that he had hurt Sarah. He had almost killed his human... and he felt bad about it. What was going on? This wasn't how it was supposed to be... “Idiot,” he growled, optics staring forward at nothing.

 

“What... the fuck?” Sarah asked, standing up. One minute he had his 'tongue' on her stomach, and the next he was curled up in a ball. He really must be crazy... She was still worried about him. “Starscream, why did you-” when the seeker growled, she shut her mouth. He gritted his teeth, forcing anger into his voice. He grabbed his helm, bringing curls of black paint and metal to his claw tips. Why didn't she just run away? She wasn't supposed to worry about him, she was _supposed_ to be _afraid!_

 

“...go away...” he grumbled at her, holding his head, trying to disappear. He just wanted her to run like a sane person would. The seeker wanted Sarah to run, screaming that some crazy jet robot was after her. He wanted to give her back to the Earth. She belonged on the mud ball, not the Moon, and not with him. He understood that. It was best for her to be on Earth... but he didn't like it.

 

The Decepticon jet didn't want to hurt her, but that meant giving her back. He didn't _want_ to give her back to this planet. Starscream didn't want Sarah to be crazy... he liked her as she was... but that meant, if she understood him, _she_ was crazy! He groaned, processor aching. Too much thinking, far too much thinking for right now. She came closer, and he slammed a hand into the dirt, claws digging into the hard soil beneath it.

 

“Leave,” he hissed, still not looking at her. “ _ **Leave!**_ ” he shrieked at her, voice a few octaves too high. Starscream didn't care if he had to swipe his claws at her to make his point clear. He'd be slagged before he'd hurt her again. The bruises were already starting to show, heavy marks of purple and yellow. “Stay away... get back!” he shrieked again, hunching over. “Just... just go! I don't want you!”

 

Sarah stared at him, hazel eyes livid. He didn't want her now? The seeker had argued with her about her looks, said she was beautiful... he had gone nuts on her a minute ago, trying to eat her, for gods sake! She hurt inside. It hurt her, to hear him say that, after what he had almost done to her. He wasn't stable, she just didn't know how bad he was! Her thin lip trembled, but she bit down on it to keep it still. Her shoulder's were shaking, and after a moment, she spoke to him, words angry and swollen.

 

“Fine,” with that, Sarah left Starscream in the canyon, heading for the anywhere but there. The human had so many questions, but he was being a bastard about it. She wasn't too mad at him for...that. The human knew he wasn't that stable. He shot himself in the head, put tubes inside her stomach, and embedded rings in her body. She understood him, or at least she had tried. Had...

 

All she wanted to know was what he was going to do when he decided to bite down. Love bite, maybe? The thought of him wanting to do such a thing, something that would show she was worth something to him, made her scream. She was an ugly human, not worth anything. “Fuck you!” she shook her head rapidly. “Stupid.” she said, tears streaking her thin face. Not a love bite. He didn't love her. He had made that clear. “Stupid, stupid me.”

 


	32. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad shit 2: everyone fukin dies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extreme violence and some sexual content. I'm ashamed of this one.

Chapter Thirty Two: Attack

 

_He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. ~Friedrich Nietzsche_

 

**X**

 

“Shocked again, she opened the gates of her tragic past. And bloody images came back to her mind. She remembered the old mission! The dark comet's goal beyond the suns! The flight through that black hole...” the teen turned around, left arm out, thumb up, singing to herself. She didn't have an audience now that Starscream decided to go crazy on her. Screw him anyway. He wanted her gone, fine. She couldn't wait to get the rings out of her. She'd need a bolt cutter for that.

 

“ _Confutatis maledictis!_ _Confutatis maledictis_ _!_ Tragedy storms him when demons spare her life! And all discover she has a demon heart... _demon_ _ **heart**_!” Sarah half growled the end of the verse. She was tired from walking, yelling,  getting pinned to a _freaking wall_ , and crying. She had to have been walking for a good hour now. The human didn't know how she found the road, but she was glad she did. She didn't care if she got picked up or not, all roads led somewhere. The dirt blond just hoped she went somewhere safe.

 

Up the road, color hidden by the orange glow of the fading sunlight, was a pick up truck. It's yellowed lights came down the road, slowing as it approached. The human couldn't tell if it were black or blue, but it didn't matter. She just hoped they would stop to get her out of here. “Hey!” she waved a hand, but she remembered that her shirt was ripped. She wished she had a bra. Oh well, they stopped.

 

The passenger window rolled down, the man behind it poking his head out. “Need a ride?” there were three of them in there, and the one that spoke had an accent Sarah couldn't trace. It sounded slurred.

 

“Yeah. Just to town or a phone, whatever's closer.” she took a step forward.

 

The guy in the back opened his door, and she climbed in, no longer caring about her shirt. She was with humans again, on Earth, like she had wanted for the last hour. The more space between her and Starscream, the better. Or, at least, that's what she told herself.

 

X

 

Starscream glided slowly through the air, searching for Sarah's body signature. He had to have been flying for an hour by now, with no luck on finding the female. The seeker had been so stupid back there, and he knew it. He knew that humans were delicate, and what did he do? He pinned her to a wall and molested her! “Slaggit!” he yelled, transforming out of jet mode. He landed with a groan of his joints, planting himself firmly on the sand. “Where are you, Sarah? You can't hide from me...” he mumbled. The sun was starting to set, but he wasn't about to leave Sarah on this filthy little mud ball.

 

Sarah was his human. _She_ was _his_. To pit with the mud ball! To pit with the whole race! Sarah was his human, if she wanted to be or not. He had lost it back there, but oh, now, now he saw his stupidity. He shouldn't have let her go off alone! There weren't any humans near by, but this place wasn't forgiving. If she stayed here, and didn't find shelter, she could get hypothermia. Exposed to the elements, she would get sunburn. She would get sick without vaccinations... picked off by scavengers after rotting away from starvation!

 

His optics flickered once, just once, and he growled. “AHHH!” The seeker released his rage on the canyon wall, cutting it like it were nothing with his claws. He sent dust and rubble across the sand, carving away the hard rock. He stopped, palms to the stone wall, vents heaving. Idiot. He couldn't even find her... “Where _are_ you?” he asked himself. She couldn't be far. 

 

There had been humans earlier. That meant there had to be a road. Sarah would follow it, logically she would have to in order to get to people. She could have followed it if she did indeed find it. That made sense. That was what he would do. He'd just... follow the road.

 

But which direction was the  _ right _ direction for finding her? “Ugh...” okay, think about it, figure it out, then go after her. Still, he had to hurry. The two of them being stuck on this primitive dirt clod for a week and a half did not sit well with him. 

 

**X**

 

Sarah now wished she were on the moon. She forgot how bad humans smelled, especially men. Men tended to stink something awful, but she didn't complain. She saw a gas station up ahead. “You can drop me off up there, okay? I can get home from there.” she wasn't new to traveling on foot. It would be hard to get across the border, but she wanted to get back to Detroit. Sarah wanted to hook up with Cole, see if he was alright. Halfway houses were everywhere nowadays, and... wait, did they drive by the gas station? “Uh... you missed it.” she didn't like that they missed it. It was right there, so, maybe-

 

“Not stopping up there. Lot a bad people around here.” said the passenger, smirking.

 

“There are bad people everywhere...” she didn't like this. “Could you drop me off here? I can make it back to the gas station from here.” the doors locked, and she frowned. Playing dumb until she was sure what was going on would help. Locking the doors wouldn't stop her. She could just pull up on the locks, anyway. “You think you could p-”

 

“We'll drop you off in a bit, but we'd like a thank you for our... trouble.” the one next to her slurred. Now she was sure he was drunk. They were all drunk. A truck full of stupid college boys, and she got in with them.

 

The teen looked on in mild confusion. “What?” Sarah asked, now sure what he meant. He leered at her, something warm touching her leg. She glanced down, and growled. “Don't touch me,” the blond sneered, smacking the man on the hand. He shoved her, making her hit her head on the door. “Son of a- hey!” the human yelled, sitting up only to be pinned down by her wrists. “Get off, asshole!” Sarah screeched, writhing and kicking.

 

The man slapped her, giving her a chance to claw at him. Her nails were short but jagged, and she went for his eyes. The man reeled back, and she missed her mark, cutting his cheek open. He punched her in the jaw, earning a scream. He brought his knee down on her stomach, forcing the air out of her. She wheezed, his hand wrapping around her throat.

 

“You little _bitch_!” the man yelled, punching Sarah's cheek. Her eyes closed, her head smacking on the door handle. She was out. The man smirked, undoing his fly. “Heh...” without warning, something hit the rear bumper on one side. The truck swerved, fish tailing before getting back on course. It happened again, but on the other side. “The hell was that?!” the man screamed.

 

“Oh Shit!” the driver screamed, hitting the gas. The passenger leaned out the window, pulling back in a second later, shock and terror on his face.

 

“Drive!” he screamed. The sun was being blocked by something big. Something longer than the truck. It roared above them, blocking out the light. A second later, huge, silver claws shattered the windows, and the truck was lifted up and flown away, the roof groaning in protest of having to bear the whole wait of the vehicle. The men inside screamed, trying to pry the claws away to no avail.

 

“Take _my_ human, will you?” Starscream growled deep in his vocal processor. He engaged his thrusters to full blast, rocketing forward. It took some heavy scanning, but he found Sarah's energy signature, going sixty miles an hour, which wasn't possible for a human. She was in the truck. He had to get her out. He came to the edge of the road, and dove toward a canyon wall, dropping the truck on it's wheels. The tires on the left side popped, leaving the humans at the mercy of the Decepticon Jet. He landed, optics crimson slits, baring his fangs. Starscream planted one of his feet on the trucks engine, fangs clenched tight. “ _No_ one steals from _me_ _!_ Give me the female! _”_ the seeker then ripped the roof clear off the truck with one hand.

 

Upon seeing Sarah on her back, her eyes shut and mouth agape, something snapped. Something stronger than what had caused him to pin her down. “ _She's_ _**mine!**_ ” the enraged seeker bellowed at the human atop her. He threw the roof of the truck behind him, bearing his massive fangs. The man screamed, still straddling the unconscious female. Starscream growled, optics blazing. How _dare_ that filthy worm touch Sarah like that? The magenta seeker shrieked, and lunged.

 

The driver ran down the road, screaming. Starscream snarled, backhanding the man off of Sarah, sending him into a canyon wall. If he survived the impact, the enraged seeker would make him wish he had perished. He looked at Sarah, lifting her into his hands. His lip twitched when he saw the growing bruises on her face and neck, her thin lips split and bleeding. His thumb brushed her stomach, pushing her shirt up to cover her. No one got to see that much of her but him. He set the female behind him, then looked at the passenger. “..don't move, Sarah... I'll be...be right back... _back!_ ” he backhanded the truck with a roar, flipping it on top of the man. Then, Starscream set his sights on the driver.

 

The driver had put a lot of distance between himself and the seeker, but his fate was sealed. Starscream activated his thrusters, gliding mere feet from the ground. He slashed the man from behind, sending him into the air. The magenta seeker caught him mid fall, before shooting himself into the sky. He spun in the air, squeezing the screaming man until he felt something hot bubble onto his claws and arm. He had squeezed the human until he 'popped', limb now coated with the red substance called blood. The seeker growled, bearing his teeth before throwing the half dead man into the ground. He looked back at the flipped truck, and hurtled downward.

 

Sarah's eyes opened, filled with confusion and pain. She licked her lips, hissing at the stinging sensation. Why was she out of the truck? Had they wrecked? Had they done it and left her there? She panicked, then felt her pants were still there. She knew what happened with rape all too well. They wouldn't redress her if they had done anything. She blinked, and saw the truck had been flipped over...

 

From above, a familiar magenta seeker landed, straightening to his full height. His hands and cockpit were smeared with blood. Sarah gaped, then heard a groan form far off. It was the man who tried to rape her. Starscream turned, and stepped slowly toward the man. She had never seen anyone so angry. He bent down, grabbing the bloody and broken human in his claws.

 

The man screamed in pain, begging, writhing and gushing on the seeker. Starscream snarled, his optics blazing, and he shoved the man part ways into his mouth, closing his jaws. He heard cracking and screaming, but kept going. The louder the man screamed, the harder he bit. His optic twitched, and with one hand, he grabbed the mans legs, crushing them. Then, he pulled the man away, his jaws still clamped. His glossa and chin were clad with blood, spurting on his neck and cockpit. The other half of the man spurted blood on his arm.

 

Starscream turned his head and spit, throwing the other part of the man the other way. He turned his attention to the truck, turned away from Sarah. He opened his mouth wide, and screamed, activating the mouth gun. “RAHHHHHH!” he bellowed, sending the vehicle into oblivion. He gagged, spitting the small amount of blood he had in his mouth. The seeker straightened again, fists clenched, and he turned back to Sarah. He didn't think she was awake. The look she was giving him... He blinked, face going from enraged to troubled.

 

Starscream looked at himself, covered in blood and... other red bits. He could taste the iron from it, smacking his glossa a bit. The corner of his mouth twitched, glossa gliding over his fangs slowly. Human blood was something he had almost tasted once today. Now he was splattered with it. The seeker shut his mouth, setting his jaw. His optics narrowed numbly as he looked at Sarah, giving her a full view of the carnage he had brought.

 

Sarah swallowed, blinking. He had gone crazy for a moment, but damn, did it show how far gone he was. For some reason, she found herself smiling, just barely. Starscream had ripped a man in half... his fangs and chin covered in blood. His claws gleamed with it, chest and cockpit splattered with it, optics matching it. As terrifying as it was, as sickening as it was, as unnecessary as it was... Sarah was almost flattered. Above that, though, she felt sick to her stomach.

 

The magenta seeker winced, lips parting. Why was she looking at him that way? That look... He backed away. He had made that same face a long time ago. Right after Megatron tore his wings off for the first time. The pain broke and rebuilt him into... this. Had he driven Sarah to where he was? “...uh...” he took to the skies, heading for the river. He had to get away. If she was there when he returned... he'd take her back to the moon. But now, he had to get the blood off.

 

“Wait!” but Starscream had left her sight. She felt ready to cry again. All Sarah wanted that moment was to go home. Her home on the moon. Her home with Lord Starscream. She sighed, and sat down to wait. She'd wait, like there was anything else to do. She was used to waiting for him. He found her once, he'd find her again. He was relentless. “Don't tell me you're leaving me here...”

 

“Slagging worthless idiots.” the seeker mumbled, rubbing his claws in the cold water. The blood came off easy, but the smell didn't. Dried blood smelled awful. He looked at his blurred reflection, and leaned down, splashing himself, rubbing carefully with his claws. The seeker looked like a monster fresh from a kill. The blood peeled away, and he looked back down at himself. The blood was gone, but the monster was still there. “Slaggit!” Starscream yelled, slashing the water. He sighed, and scooped water into his mouth, swirling it over his fangs with his glossa before spitting it out. Who knew what it would do to his tanks. The blood gone, he took flight.

 

“...they moved away seeming to be frightened, sparing her life...” Sarah quietly sang the line, tapping her foot to the beat. She had to distract herself for now, from the carnage, and that Starscream had taken off on her. The sharp whine of a jet went over her head, and she looked up to find it was just a normal jet. Normal jet... it seemed like a funny thing to think of. It faded away, leaving a white plume behind. It was getting dark, the sky a faint purple with faded orange. In front of her, there was the same whine, but it was the seeker this time, not some common jet.

 

Starscream landed, and looked at her yet again. Her narrow frame flecked with bruises, mop of blond hair as messy as ever. There was a growing bruise on her cheek, and her lips swelled, an eye purple. Her collarbone had bruises from him, an ugly yellow and gray 'U' shape. He said two words, and this is what happened. He chose to stay silent this time.

 

The seeker sat down, away from her, knees bent, hands in his lap. Here he was, once again, staring out at the world because he had lost control. He had almost killed Sarah before, and now he had three more humans on his list. The list was far too long for his tastes. Starscream looked cautiously over a shoulder, then frowned, looking back at the purple sky. Night would come soon. They had to leave in an hour or so if they wanted to get to the moon.

 

Sarah stood up, licking her bleeding lips. The human walked carefully toward Starscream, getting a good look at him. The seeker looked like he did when he was 'sleeping.' She placed her hands on his leg before leaning forward to press her bony chest against it. He made a gasping sound, before she felt hands pick her up. She was brought to his face, darkened optics studying her. He looked almost sad. He set her down, but she didn't walk away. Sarah climbed him, not really caring if he got mad at her. She made it to his cockpit, and worked her way up from there.

 

“Uh...” Starscream mumbled, honestly confused. Sarah blinked sadly, and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her hands barely touched, and she squeezed softly. The seeker blinked, mouth open. He raised his hands slowly, placing them around Sarah. He didn't remove her for a few minutes, just trying to savor this. She leaned her face on his neck, cheek touching warm, sensitive neck wires. 

 

Starscream twitched. No, no... she wasn't supposed to do this. He wasn't _supposed_ to care. He had to get her to let go of him, he didn't know what he might do. He just got Sarah back, he wasn't about to lose her again. He pulled his hands away, and looked bleakly at the teen now sitting on him. Starscream couldn't say he was sorry. Not for pinning her to a wall, not for yelling at her, not for killing those idiots who tried to hurt her.

 

Even if he were sorry, he wouldn't say it. It wouldn't sound real, so he wouldn't even try.

 

“...can we go home?” Sarah asked from his shoulder. He nodded at her, and opened his cockpit. The human climbed down, getting back into the position he had instructed before they left the moon. He said nothing as he transformed, or as he took off, or as they headed back home. Sarah couldn't really blame him. “Will you at least try to talk to me?” she wanted him to say something, anything. The last thing he had said to her was 'I don't want you.' She'd settle for anything now, even an insult as long as he spoke to her. 

 

All Sarah heard on the ride home was the sound of air rushing past them, then the silent vacuum of space as they returned home.


	33. Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole dances. That's it.

Chapter Thirty Two: Dance

 

_We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb_

 

**X**

 

To say this was weird was an understatement. Megatron's order was to leave Cole with Blitzwing. There was a reason for this, but Shockwave did not like the idea. The last time the two were left alone, Blitzwing told a war story and malfunctioned. When Blitzwing malfunctioned, and it wasn't caught in time, or someone said the wrong thing, he sent others to the medbay. Cole could have been killed, which went against the double agent's directive to keep him functioning.

 

There was a method to this madness, though. Shockwave had said that it might not be safe for the human, but what Megatron ordered was what happened.

 

“Cole,” he said, walking with the human in one three clawed hand, optic trained on the little male. “remember, do not ask for war stories from Blitzwing.”

 

The blond nodded, left arm lazily draped over the antlered cons thumb. “Got it. Anything else I should avoid?”

 

“So long as you follow that, you should be fine.” the con said, typing in an access code with his free hand. The door slid upward, and Shockwave stepped into the room. He and Blitzwing looked at each other, and Shockwave went to the desk, setting Cole on the smooth surface. “Blitzwing, you know the rules for the human. No touching him, no screaming at him, absolutely no war stories. Am I clear?”

 

The tan and purple con nodded, and the antlered con left, the door sliding down behind him. The blond swallowed, now alone with the three faced Decepticon.

 

“So... how have you been?” he had no idea what to do with Blitzwing.

 

“Fine.” he had no idea what to do with Cole. Well, he did, but being blunt would startle him. Don't startle the human, that was what Megatron had told him. “What about you? Yell at Lugnut lately?” he had heard that little scream-fest, and when his warped processor was somewhat back to it's natural, unbalanced self, he laughed about it. Few were brave enough to yell at Lugnut.

 

Cole blinked, waving is hands. “N-no! No... I haven't seen him.” he admittedly didn't like Lugnut. He was loud, too loud, and mean, very mean. The combination made him more than scary. “I didn't mean to yell at him... I was kinda tired.” Cole may have been angry when he yelled at Lugnut, but he wouldn't normally do that. Not if he were being yelled at, anyway. Really, he tended to shrink when being yelled at unless he knew he could argue back. But, then again, _normal_ probably meant not being abducted by a bunch of loud robots.

 

Blitzwing smiled a bit. “Oh, he probably forgot about zhat. Not the sharpest blade in the set, mind you.” he decided now was a good time to star questioning Cole.

 

“Your boss scares the crap out of me.” the blond said, stretching his thin legs. He frowned at them. He had lost weight since arriving here. He looked like a stick man!

 

Blitzwing nodded, smirking. “He should.” the triple changer looked down at the human, larger optic zooming in on him a little. His pulse increased when he had said Megatron's name. How odd. “He hasn't shown hostility toward you, though. Other than a month ago when you wouldn't stop screaming, but you were giving Shockwave a processor ache.” he knew about the human getting pinned. It was hard to miss, really. Human screams were hard to block out. They upset Random for some reason. “How can you be sure we aren't doing you a favor in keeping you from the Autobots?” that was the first thing Megatron wanted to know. What did Cole think of the Decepticon's after what they had done to him?

 

Cole raised an eyebrow, frowning. “Yeah... kinda hard to be good when you have a frigging' _cannon_ on your arm.” he was referring to Megatron, of course. He scared him to death, but Blitzwing had a point. Megatron hadn't done anything too... aggressive. None of the Decepticons seemed too hostile, save for Lugnut, of course. Hell, Megatron was actually kind to him. He had made the buzzing stop, even though he probably ordered the damn thing in the first place. He had said it before, he was blond, not an idiot. Megatron pulled the strings with all of this, he knew. Cole wiggled his toes absently. Too much thinking as always.

 

“You have a point.” his face spun to Random, who grinned. “Ohohoho! I heard you were attacked by sharks!” that was the idea behind talking to Cole. Megatron had questions, but he was well aware that Cole was more or less terrified of him. Blitzwing was good with humans, meaning he didn't splatter them on the walls if they got him mad. In all honesty, Angry might, but still, only might.

 

“Uh... yeah.” technically, the sharks were in his head, but yeah, he had been attacked by sharks. Hallucinations sucked out loud, that he wouldn't deny.

 

Blitzwing leaned down, head cocked. “Bwahaha! So, hammerhead or great white?” he grinned, hands on knees.

 

Cole frowned, trying to remember what he had seen. Or, at least, thought he had seen. “...they were purple tiger sharks. About an inch long. They were trying to eat my brain.” he tapped his left temple. “They always try on my left side... through the temple.” It had happened before, but it had never been that bad. He knew he had issues, but who didn't? Somehow, sharks trying to devour one's brain seemed like a bigger issue than most.

 

The triple changer blinked, but he had the information he needed. It had happened before, which Megatron had wanted to know. “Oh, and they say I'M the crazy one!"

 

“Shut up, three faced lunatic,” he mumbled, giving a fake pout.

 

Said lunatics face spun to Angry, pointing at the blond. “No, YOU!"

 

“No, YOU!” he yelled back, pointing.

 

“Your mother!"

 

“Your _father!_ "

 

“Your uncle Ted twice removed!”

 

“Your whole _family!”_

 

“Ha! I killed my family! BWAHAHAHA!”

 

Cole snickered, “Why am I not surprised?”

 

“Oh? Why are you not surprised?”

 

“Cos you're a bunch of crazies working for a giant, sexy robot!” oh dear god, he said it out loud!

 

Out came Icy, normal optic widened. “You find Megatron attractive?” Blitzwing wasn't too surprised, really. Megatron was stunning by any Cybertronian standard, but Cole wasn't a Cybertronian. He was an Earthling.

 

Shit. “I do... b-but I don't know why. He's scary as hell... but it makes him sexy... Am I nuts?” he placed a clammy palm to his forehead, tugging his too long bangs. “Never mind, I'm fucking loony.” oh god, what had he gotten himself into? Like Blitzwing could keep a secret. He couldn't keep a face for more than a minute! “Know what? Shoot me in the head. He's gonna do it anyway.” Cole didn't know what these robots wanted him for, but he got the feeling that they'd kill him when they were done.

 

Icy looked down at him, normal optic squinting. “Well... he might shoot you. Or, he might ignore it. He doesn't know, though.” if it didn't matter, then Megatron didn't need to know.

 

A pause. “...you're gonna tell him, aren't you?” he practically keened the question. He wanted to slap himself. He was supposed to be masculine! He bet he looked like a girl with these stupid bangs of his, and here he was, keening over an insane attraction.

 

“Why would I tell him, you little meatball!” yelled Angry, bearing his teeth.

 

Cole smiled from relief, and the fact that a robot could have a gap in his teeth. First accents, now this? This was getting silly! “Oh, phew..."

 

Then, Random decided to spin out, his grin a little creepier than normal. “Cole has a crushy! COLE HAS A CRUSHY!” he couldn't help but be excited about it. A human with a crush on Megatron? It was hilarious! He wouldn't tell anyone, of course. None of him would tell, because it wasn't important. It was funny, though, like his own little inside joke. How fun!

 

“Damn, you're an odd one. You make me look normal.”

 

“You're considered normal?”

 

The blond grinned. “Around you, I am!” around Blitzwing, anyone was normal!

 

The Decepticon smirked. Well, just one question left, and he'd have done what Megatron asked. “What about Jake? Was Jake normal?”

 

The grin faltered, then slipped into a half smile. “No... Jake wasn't normal.” why were these guys so obsessed with Jake? He mentioned him once, _once_ , and these robots wanted to know everything about him. No chance of that!

 

That wasn't the answer the three faced con was expecting, but the little blond's body language and tone gave him enough of an answer to please Megatron's curiosity, at least. Whoever this Jake was, he had done something to Cole. Something that made Cole shrink back and wince. That was what the Decepticon Overlord had wanted to know most, it seemed.

 

They had only been talking for a few minutes, maybe ten, but Blitzwing had his answers. Still, he had been given an hour with the human... he might as well use it to learn a bit more. “You like to party, little meatball?”

 

He blinked. “What?”

 

“Do you like to party?!” said Random, wiggling on his feet. This was so much fun to talk to a human that wasn't wetting themselves!

 

“...well, I like to dance.”

 

Finally, something they had in common! “Bwahahah! Who doesn't dance? You vant to?” anyone that loved to dance was good in his book!

 

“...okay?”

 

Blitzwing skipped toward the computer, tapping a few buttons. Soon enough, the sound of techno filled the room. Cole swayed to the beat, head going up and down with the counter beat. He started to swing his hips, hands behind his head. He leaned back, and curled upwards, giving a small hip thrust. He loved that move.

 

“Where did you learn a move like zhat?”

 

Cole did it again, smiling. “Saw it on TV! I used to dance for money.”

 

“You were a stripper?” he wasn't new to human entertainment. He knew what stripping was, and that humans did it for cred- err, money. They also removed clothing to earn more money, something unheard of on his home planet. They were all, to be technical about it, nude. Sure, armor was an afterthought by most, but armor was normally made as a way of protection. It didn't change everyday like clothing. Few were foolish enough to change they're armor every cycle. Unheard of, just like strippers.

 

Cole stopped, blushing. “No way! I'm too young! I just did it on the street and people gave me money!” it didn't hurt to have Sarah going around with a hat, getting the crowds to clap so he had some sort of beat to dance to.

 

“Street performer, zhen?” they had those on Cybertron. Strippers were an Earth thing, though. Removing your armor on Cybertron was a stupid move, even in peaceful times.

 

“Yeah, I guess. Turn it up! I love this song!” Blitzwing cackled, and obliged, his own dancing adding to the already booming bass.

 

_**Forever young!** _

_**I wanna be forever young!** _

_**Do you really wanna live forever?** _

_**Forever, forever!** _

_**Forever young!** _

_**I wanna be forever young!** _

_**Do you really wanna live forever?** _

_**Forever, forever young!** _

 

**X**

 

An hour had passed by, and Megatron was up and going to get Cole. Not a hard task. He could have had Shockwave get the human, but the antlered shapeshifter was busy with a bigger matter. His speech, as long as it took to write, was over and done with. He wouldn't be delivering a new one for a long while. In short, he had free time.

 

He stood before Blitzwing's quarters, and listened. There was a rhythmic thumping noise that clearly wasn't the triple changer ramming into things. The door to Blitzwing's quarters opened, and-

 

_**Now if she does it like this** _

_**Will you do it like that?** _

_**Now if she touches like this** _

_**Will you touch her right back?** _

 

_**Now if she moves like this** _

_**Will you move her like that?** _

_**Come on, shake, shake** _

_**Shake, shake, shake it!** _

 

Megatron was beyond confused. “What do you think you're doing?” he said. Cole 'eeped' in mid spin, and fell on his butt. The Decepticon blinked. He had been talking to Blitzwing, who was too busy playing with some blue... thing. He looked back at Cole, who was covering his bare chest with splayed hands. The silver hellion raised an eyebrow. Cole was shirtless. Oh, so that was what Blitzwing had... but _why_ did he have it?

 

“M-M-Megatron! Uh...” the blond was blushing, eyes wide. “Hi?”

 

“Hmm...” this was more than awkward, but it was interesting. Cole could dance. He wasn't fantastic, not even close to amazing, but he was good enough for him to notice the random wriggling before the missing shirt.

 

Oh crap, Megatron was staring at him. He didn't like being stared at. Why did he have to take off his shirt? He had thought as long as Blitzwing didn't tell war stories, he'd be fine. But no, he was dead now. Lugnut yelled at them to turn down the music, but they- oh dear god, why the hell was he covering his nipples?! “...this sucks,” he mumbled.

 

“Blitzwing.” he turned to the now blank faced Decepticon. “Give Cole his shirt.”

 

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” the blue fabric was tossed to Cole as a bunched up ball. He kept his gaze down, and pulled the shirt over his head, wiggling back into it. He groaned. The collar had been stretched out. It slipped over his shoulder, showing pale skin. Great.

 

**X**

 

The next day, or so he assumed seeing his body clock had fried itself, Cole sat in the hammock of Megatron's room, not Shockwave's. He had spent the night in the room, alone, with Megatron keeping his back to him. He was working at his computer, of course. No data pad this time, and no recharge for the con, either. He was still typing when sleep decided to leave him. Cole was awake, and he was bored.

 

The rapid clicking of large keys stopped, and Megatron's hand came to rest under his chin. He hummed, and finally stood up. The blond gave up. He did _not_ get Megatron, no matter how attractive he thought him to be. Suddenly, the silver and red Decepticon was looming above him, and he was standing up to try and show he wasn't completely petrified.

 

“Uh...” there came a large, black hand, and it stopped just short of his torso.

 

“Come here, human.” the silver hellion said, softly curling the ends of his fingers. Cole blinked, but he stepped forward, and felt the fingers curl around him, stomach pressed into Megatron's palm. He walked toward the desk that sat beneath the computer, and he was set down, the hand gone when he had his feet planted. They looked at each other, Cole uncertain what to do other than recite the last rights for himself in the back of his head.

 

Megatron sat down, and looked down at the little human male. “Dance.” he said, arms crossed.

 

“...You want me to dance?” the blond asked, floored.

 

“Yes.”

 

Cole was tempted to ask him why, but he felt it would be better if he just did what Megatron said. “Okay... there any music or... you just want me to wing it?”

 

Wing it? Oh, without music, he meant. He smirked at him, and commed Blitzwing. _“Blitzwing.”_

 

“ _Yes, Lord Megatron?”_

 

His smirk widened, seeing how confused Cole was. _“Wire that music you had playing yesterday to my computer.”_

 

“ _Yes, Lord Megatron.”_

 

“ _And, while you're at it... a few other songs as well.”_ he wanted to watch different styles of Dance. See what Cole knew about dancing before spending his time watching videos online. Why waste his time when he could watch the real thing? Besides, if anyone was idiotic enough to ask why there was a human wiggling around on his desk, he could call it research. “There we are, human.” he said, lacing his fingers.

 

The music started up, and Cole smiled. It was a cautious smile, though. “...Can I take off my shirt? Or do you not like half naked humans running around?”

 

He merely shrugged. Why not? That was what Cole had been doing when he had first seen the dance. What was the harm? A few minutes after, Cole grabbed his shirt off the desk, and swung it slowly over his head, swaying hard.

 

“It's part of the show,” he said before rolling at his hips. “Some girls like shirtless guys. If they wanna see me shirtless, I'm gonna have fun with it.” the silver hellion blinked. So, the human was into manipulation? Dancing wasn't quite the way to get what one wanted, but Cole enjoyed it, and if he liked being fawned over by femmes on the street... that didn't make much sense. The blond had said he was gay, which meant he only liked males. He didn't know much about homosexuals, seeing that his kind were androgynous. He knew one thing, though. Cole enjoyed dancing so much, he would do it until something stopped him, like the edge of the desk.

 

He was lucky someone had been there to catch him. “Oof!” there was Cole, in one of Megatron's hands, yet again. The silver Decepticon felt the humans pulse, not meaning to, of course. He was holding a wriggling, breathing, living organic, without it screaming in agony. It was... interesting.

 

“That's enough for now.” he couldn't see himself watching the human dance again, but he couldn't be sure. He dumped the human on the desk, and shut off the music. Cole was on his knees when he landed, and stayed in that pose as he grabbed his shirt.

 

The blond blinked, skin hot. “Did you... like it?”

 

“Eh?”

 

The teen fidgeted with his shirt, skin tinted pink, “Did you like it?”

 

The Decepticon thought for a moment. _Had_ he liked it? “...yes.”

 

They both smiled. Cole's a grin full of teeth, his nothing but upturned corners of the mouth.

 

Maybe, Megatron _would_ want to see Cole dance again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least the trash fire keeps me warm.


	34. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's out there in the fields.

Chapter Thirty Four: Pain.

 

_When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same. ~ Toni Morrison_

 

**X**

 

“But sister... you know I'm so weary...and you know sister my hearts been broken...sometimes, my mind is just too strong to carry on... too strong to carry on...” Prowl sang quietly to himself, lying on the roof and looking up at an empty sky. “Hmm... close enough.” at least Jazz wasn't there to 'glomp' him like the other time he tried singing this song. He called it a 'fan bot moment', and said Nell would love it. He wasn't sure where Jazz was. “I'll work on it later...” he said to himself. He liked the song. It reminded him of Nell. A lot of things did.

 

Prowl was on some sort of probation after he had attacked Sentinel. A day in the brig and three days on base. Sentinel received five days in the brig and seven days on probation. It was the fourth night, and the ninja bot would be free to visit Nell in a few hours. It would be midnight by then. He frowned, knowing that Sentinel would be out soon, too. After what Sentinel had done, he was sure Nell wasn't too keen on coming back to the base. At least, not for a while.

 

Prowl planned to visit her in the morning, thinking back to the times he had stayed there with her. She was so calm when she'd just woken up, and seemed like nothing could wake her when she was sleeping. The ninja bot smiled and sat up, looking out at the city. He thought about it, and called Nell's number. He wanted to find a good time to see her. He had so much to tell her.

 

“ _This is Nell, sorry I missed you, leave what you need at the beep!”_ the call went straight to message. 

 

For a moment, he stood there. Nothing to worry about. The ninja bot called again. _“This is Nell, sorry I missed you, leave what you need at the beep!”_

 

“Nell, this is Prowl. Call me when you hear this.” he hung up. After a few minutes of waiting for her to call him back, he tried again. “Nell, this is Prowl again. Call me, alright?” he disconnected the call, and sat for another few minutes. Something was wrong. Her phone was off. She told him it was never off. That could have just been a saying, but... He called Prime's com-link frequency, leaping over rooftops as he spoke.

 

“Prime, we have a situation with Nell.”

 

_'What? Talk to me. What's going on?'_

 

“I'm not sure. She isn't answering her phone. I'm going to check on her.” there was a pause.

 

_'...Prowl, you realize she could just be busy, right?'_

 

“I know it sounds strange, but her phone is off. She said that she always kept it on. I have to check to see she's alright.”

 

_'Did you ever stop to think that she just needs some space? That may be it. I mean, after what Sentinel did, she may just need time to cool off. Or her phone could have run low on battery life.'_

 

Prowl remained silent, landing in an ally and driving off. He heard Prime sigh on the other side of the comm-link. _'Look, I won't stop you from going out there, but I want you to contact me if anything is off. I'll be waiting for a call from you. Optimus out.'_ with that, the Prime hung up.

 

Prowl was glad it was dark out. The night made it easier to travel. Fewer cars in the way, fewer things to dodge. The ride dragged by painfully slow for him, even though he made it there in record time, gravel flying past him. He transformed quickly, standing up and looking around. No Nell. He saw a light on in the stable, and he went inside.

 

The horses were locked up, but something was off. He could feel it. He looked in at Shylock, only to see the beast glare at him, ears pinned back in anger. Then he looked at Lila, who was panting, nostrils flared and eyes wide in confusion. Brandy was standing in front of her colt, head hung low. The colt seemed to be cowering. Roxane had her ears folded back, and Champ was nowhere to be seen. Prowl's mouth twitched with worry. He had to find Nell. If the horses were this bad, he could only imagine... he didn't _want_ to imagine. He wanted to _know_.

 

“Nell?” he didn't see her anywhere. “Nell, where are you?”

 

“Up,” the ninja bot looked up, and there was Nell, standing on the hay loft. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were red like she hadn't slept in a month. Things were more than just off. Things were completely off the wall. “Go home, Prowl. Now's a bad time.” she turned around, going out of sight. He whirred. Nell didn't say that. She never told him that before. The dark bot jumped onto the loft, standing tall.

 

“Nell, you had me worried. I called you, but you-”

 

“I had my phone off, that's not a reason for you to freak out on me.” she growled. This wasn't the Nell he knew. Nell didn't growl, at least not at him. He stepped forward, only for Nell to reel back and huff, mumbling things he couldn't hope to make out. “I thought you'd get that I didn't want to talk... don't know why I _bothered_.”

 

Prowl's visor narrowed. What was going on? “I was worried. You said yourself never shut off your phone.” worried was an understatement. He was past that now. Nell was avoiding him. She wasn't like this... he had never seen her this way. His spark tightened in its casing. What happened?

 

“Just leave me alone.” she mumbled.

 

“No, Nell. Whatever you're not telling me, I need to know.” the dark bot said, voice rising just a little. He sighed, trying to stay in control. “This isn't like you.”

 

Nell turned on him, glowering. “God dammit Prowl, go home! I don't want to talk!” she hit his stomach armor with an open fist, turning around after she realized what she had done. Now she felt even worse. To Prowl, it physically didn't hurt. But emotionally, the dark bot felt ready to grab her to keep her from running off. The dark bot wasn't liking what he was seeing. Nell was seething, holding her hand with her back on him. “Go away, dammit, just go away.”

 

Then, he heard it. A very quiet, very pained whimper. The center of Prowl's visor went up in alarm. He went to one knee, mouth half open. The woman didn't move. “Nell, what happened? Talk to me.” Nell looked at him sideways, frowning deeply. She sighed, one hand pressed into the small of her back, the other a fist pressed into her forehead. He waited, his concern growing. Seeing her this upset was only made worse by the fact that she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. He wanted to help her more than anything, but he couldn't if she didn't tell him what he had to do. Minutes passed, then, very quietly, she spoke.

 

“...Champ's dead.”

 

He stared at her for a moment. “...what?”

 

She swallowed, and continued, voice low and scratchy. “Champ is dead, Prowl. It happened an hour ago. Someone... they just-” Nell pushed the heals of her hands into her temples, bearing her teeth in frustration. She took in a few sharp breaths between clenched teeth, back heaving, face away from Prowl. “Someone came onto the property. They hit him with a truck or something,” Nell's hands came down to her elbows, holding them. “I could see inside him. He was split open... still alive when I found him. Barely... I had to...!” 

 

The woman hunched over, one hand coming up to cover her eyes. “He was... I had to shoot him.” she had turned to look at him now. “He's... he's under a tarp in the main field... I can't move him.” Nell shook slightly. She didn't want to have a meltdown in front of Prowl, but it was getting hard not to. “This can't be happening.” she stared at the floor.

 

Prowl didn't know if there was anything he could say to help. Maybe there was something he could do. Maybe hugging her would help? He wanted to touch her. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to protect her. Prowl reached out a hand, just touching her shoulder with his fingertips. Nell crumpled at his touch, grabbing his wrist with one hand, pressing her shoulder into his palm. It made his spark ache. Being as gentle as he could, he pulled Nell into his arms, pressing her to his chest platting.

 

He held her there for a minute, feeling her heartbeat, hoping she would feel his spark. She covered her face with her hands, trying to hide. He lowered her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. The dark bots left hand went behind her head, palm on her neck and fingers in her hair. The other hand went to rest on the small of her back, rubbing carefully.

 

This was just what she wanted to avoid. Nell didn't want to burden him with this. But here he was, holding her, rubbing her back, keeping her safe. Prowl didn't have to do this. She had been taking care of herself since she was seventeen, she didn't want to rely on someone now! Nell wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her face in the crook. She felt pathetic, shaking in the arms of a robot.

 

“Shh...” that was all he could think of. Words didn't feel like they would work. Nell was shaking like crazy. She didn't make much sound, but anything he heard wrenched at his spark like an energon blade. He moved his hands carefully, pulling her closer without hurting her. Her shoulders would jerk every few seconds, which made him hold onto her tighter. 

 

Prowl didn't understand why anyone would do this. Who would do this kind of thing? The only one he could think of was Sentinel Prime. But Sentinel was still locked up, and he was terrified of organics. No, not as terrified as he was disgusted. He had shoved Nell once before, and cornered her to intimidate her, it was obvious. He knew Nell loved her horses. He could have easily gotten directions... but why would he go this _far_ to hurt someone? What did that bot think it would gain?

 

Nell's shoulder's had stopped shaking, but by now tears were streaming down her face. She was mad at herself for getting upset like this. She leaned her head on his shoulder, trying to breath in. He was very warm for being made of metal. She thought, for a moment, that he was humming, but she realized it was his spark. Even his spark was calming, that low, pulsating hum, his warm lap, his careful hands, those strong arms... the safety brought sleep.

 

Prowl slowly pulled back to look at Nell. She was a heavy sleeper, but he was still careful. He let his fingertips skim her cheek, his spark clenching when they came back wet. “Oh Nell... I'm so sorry...” He stood carefully, cradling her with one arm. He laid her on the bed, even though didn't want to let go. He ran his fingertips through her hair, taking caution not to pull any strands. His hand was on her shoulder, rubbing it gently, feeling how thin she was. His hand went down her back, feeling her spine before he stopped. Prowl pulled his hand back. What was he _doing?_

 

He had to contact Prime. Nell needed to sleep now. He jumped into the rafters, climbing his way onto the roof. “Prime, this is Prowl.”

 

_'This is Prime. Status?'_

 

Oh, where to begin. “One of Nell's horses was attacked and left for dead. She had to terminate him on sight.”

 

_'...I'll be right out. Is that all?'_

 

“No. I suspect the horse was attacked by a Cybertronian.” he ground out the last word.

 

_'What? You don't think... be reasonable here. Sentinel's an organic hating jerk, and that's being 'nice' about it. Why would he WANT to touch a horse, let alone try to kill one?'_

 

“He's had it in for Nell for months. He kept trying to scare her, then he got physical. He shoved her just to show her he was powerful. He called her a glitch until she spit on him. The bot backed her into a corner and threatened her with his lance, Prime! He could have killed her!” Prowl said, voice raising to a low yell.

 

_'I remember all of it, Prowl. Everyone, especially Ultra Magnus, remembers that. He went outside to check on her when she got sick, if you didn't hear. According to him, she screamed and threw up. I don't think anyone can forget something like that.'_

 

“I know I won't, Prime. I'm still on probation.” the ninja bot got the feeling it didn't matter now.

 

_'And Sentinel got his aft handed to him. But back to the matter at hand. What happened with her tonight?'_

 

“She... broke. I had her in my lap to calm her down. It didn't take long to calm her down, but ...” His words faded out.

 

 _'I'm not surprised. You really care for that woman.'_ Prime was the one being quiet now.

 

“I do. She fell asleep in my arms and... when I put her down...” he stopped.

 

_'Yes? What happened?'_

 

“That's it, Prime. I didn't want to put her down.” Prowl tried to keep quiet, but failed in doing so. There was a pause.

 

_'Prowl... do you hear what you're saying? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're in love with Nell.'_

 

“I love her. I _do_ love Nell.” he growled. He hadn't meant to growl.

 

_'...Prowl, do you want to put yourself through that? She's not as young as she looks.'_

 

The ninja bot sighed. “She is _twenty_ _six_ and I know about time.”

 

_'She's a human. A smaller than average one at that. Do you know how easily you could hurt her?'_

 

Prowl clenched his free fist, frowning. “What about you and Sari?”

 

_'...that's completely different, so drop it.'_

 

“Is it?” Prowl was getting tired of this. “With all due respect, you're a hypocrite, Prime.”

 

_'I said drop it. Prowl, Sari is a techno-organic female.'_

 

“I'm done talking about it, Prime. If you think you can tell me who I can and can't be with-”

 

The Prime cut him off, voice stern and tired. _'Prowl.'_ Optimus sighed. _'If Nell makes you happy, then by all means, be with her. I won't get in your way, and I'm not ordering you around. I consider you my friend, Prowl, and I just wanted you to understand what you are getting into. It won't be easy with a human, understand?'_

 

“Understood...and...thank you.”

 

_'You're welcome. We'll be there in a minute.'_

 

“We?”

 

_'I brought Sari along... well, she brought herself along. I told her she wouldn't want to see it but... yeah. See you in a few minutes.'_

 

“Prime... she... didn't hear any of the call, did she?” now he felt bad.

 

 _'Just the first half, I cut you off around the time you said I don't know anything. Seems I know when to cut off a conversation. I can see you on the roof, can you see me down here?'_ Prowl looked at the ground below to find Optimus pulling up to the stable. He jumped down, landing with a rush of air.

 

“Yes, I can.” he said, straightening. Sari stepped out of Optimus, glaring at the dirt.

 

“Can't believe someone'd do this... sick.” she grumbled. “Okay, so where is he?” 

 

Prowl frowned. “Sari, are you sure you want to see this?”

 

“Positive. C'mon, lets go.” 

 

“Sari,” Optimus cut in as he transformed. “this isn't going to be like a cadaver on a crime show. It's the real thing. You're sure you want to see a mutilated horse?” he asked gently. He didn't even want to see it, to be honest.

 

“Yeah... I'm sure. I'm doing it for Nellie. I brought a camera, too. Who knows what could happen with this.” the three went off, led by Prowl.

 

**X**

 

They'd been out there for a good half-hour now, the only light being Optimus' shoulder lights. The red and blue Prime looked down at the dead horse, feeling his tanks churn for the eighth time that night. Dead organics made him uneasy. “Doesn't look like it fits Sentinel's alt mode. No shovel marks. Or tire tracks.” the larger bot stood up, pointing at the ground. “I should have brought Ratchet along...” he frowned. “Sari, any input?” she snapped a few pictures, and looked up at him and Prowl, uneasy.

 

“Well, his legs are broken, that's obvious. Look at his chest. The way it's broken doesn't fit in with any car or truck. It's too small, see?” Sari turned her head, pointing at the gaping wound with her exposed hand. “It looks more like a huge kick, or punch...” she turned to Prowl, eyes wide. “You may be right, Prowl. Sentinel could've done it, but why just use...a fist...” she looked back at the body, anger showing through the wonder. Her bright blue eyes went wide. “I know you're not gonna want to do this, but roll him over. I need to see something.”

 

“What?” Optimus asked, mildly disgusted. “Sari, what is it? What do you think you'll find?”

 

“Just... turn him over. There may be something on the other side.” she had an idea. Optimus winced, and carefully turned the body over, pulling his fingers away quickly to find cold, sticky blood. He wiped his hand on the grass behind him, frowning. “Okay, now, shine the light.” Optimus adjusted so that the light shone right on just what Sari was looking for. A clear cut, right on the rib-cage and clear to the bone. Thinner than a thread, cleaner than a scalpel, bright as a neon sign. It even had a dull, blue glow.

 

“There it is! Sentinel's lance did that! No Earth weapon could do something like this. The way he fell, it looks like Sentinel hit him with the lance first, then stepped on his...” the teen took several pictures, then looked at the horse, fully realizing what she was seeing. She covered her mouth with one hand. “Okay, I'm gonna be sick.” Sari stood up and bolted a few yards away before throwing up.

 

“Sari...” Optimus walked over to her, resting his clean palm on her back. Prowl looked on, face blank. He looked back at Champ, frowning. The center of his visor went up again. He pulled the tarp back over the body, and turned to Optimus, who was holding a tired Sari to his chest plate.

 

“I wouldn't pick me up, Optimus. I don't feel good...” she warned, leaning against him.

 

Optimus gave a small smile. “I know. Don't worry, Sari. We're going home now.” the Prime looked at the ninja, mouth crooked, “I'll send Ratchet out in the morning.” he had Sari cupped in his hands, like when she was a child. “Prowl, what do you want to do about...” he moved his head to point to the tarp, mouth a flat line.

 

“I'm staying here with Nell. I don't want to leave her or the horses alone.” he said flatly.

 

“Alright. Have a... good night, Prowl.” the red and blue bot said awkwardly. He set Sari down, transformed, and drove off with the techno-teen. Prowl sighed and went back into the stable. The horses were still avoiding him. They must have seen something. Something to make them fear him. That only fueled him further.

 

Prowl hopped onto the loft, looking at the still sleeping Nell. He took a few steps toward her, letting his hand rest lightly on her shoulder again, moving up to touch her hair. He loved her hair. He loved a lot about the woman in front of him. She moved a bit, burrowing further into the mattress with a light moan. His mouth tightened. “I'm still here, Nell. I'm not going anywhere,” he sighed, brushing her shoulder. “I promise...” he whispered, and pulled his hand away, sitting down in a meditative pose. He'd be there all night, and he'd be there for her in the morning.

 

**X**

 

The ride back to the base was quiet. The bot and techno-teen didn't really have much to say. A few minutes from the base, Sari spoke up.

 

“Optimus?”

 

“Yes, Sari?” he said quietly.

 

“Can, uh, can we drive around a little? I'm... uh...” she fumbled with her mismatched fingertips. “I'm kinda up.”

 

“Sure. Anywhere you want to go?”

 

“No... just, drive... please?” he didn't need any further explanation. The Autobot wanted to know what was wrong, but he was pretty sure he already knew. Sari sighed, watching out his window, arms crossed. Optimus spoke up, carefully.

 

“Sari, I understand that you're upset, but...” he stumbled over what he was trying to say. “It's more than just the horse, isn't it?”

 

Sari's throat tightened, trying not to cry. She leaned back, rolling on her side. “Optimus, Nellie's got the worst luck I know. She's a nice person, but people...” she sniffed, pressing her cheek into the seat. “...people _suck_. Especially Autobots with big chins and too much power.” she spat. The techno-organic teen was sleepy. Optimus was warm, and driving had always made her tired.

 

Optimus drove steadily, his spark warming and tightening. He hated it when Sari was upset. He understood what Sari was saying, though. “We still don't know if Sentinel's the one responsible. He's still in the brig for... well...” he was still mad about that. Then, a thought. “Sari... what does Prowl know about Nellie? Does he know about...that?” The woman could be annoying, stubborn, and loud, but those were no reason to hurt someone. Neither was anything else.

 

The teen shrugged. “No, Prowl doesn't know. Optimus, some people don't like her kind of different. There's a lot of stuff I can't talk about. Nothing bad, it's just personal stuff. If she wants Prowl or anyone to know, she'll talk. But... just because you guys didn't freak out doesn't mean she thinks Prowl will act the same way... she doesn't want him to run away. He won't, I mean come on, he's nuts about her.” she left it at that. Sari closed her eyes, cuddling into the seat, half awake. “I'm gonna sleep now.” she yawned, smiling. “Night... Oppy...”

 

Oppy? Where on Cybertron did _that_ come from? Oh well, he liked the contact. Optimus tightened the seat belt a bit around her waist, slowly pulling into the base. He'd wake her in the morning, or maybe the afternoon. Sari wasn't much of a morning person. “Sleep well, Sari.” he mentally smiled, and went into a light recharge.

 


	35. Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally doing something about the chin.

Chapter 35: Guard

 

_A good deal of tyranny goes by the name of protection. ~ Crystal Eastman_

 

**X**

 

_'Prowl, this is Ratchet. Ya there, kid?'_

 

The ninja bot's helm jerked up, and he whirred. It took him a moment or two to realize where he was. It was still dark outside. His internal clock told him it just past six AM... and he remembered the night before all too well. From laying Nell down to his covering Champ's mutilated corpse with a tarp. He groaned, and answered the medic. “Yes, I'm here.”

 

_'I'm coming out there. Optimus wanted me to take a look at this... what, a dead horse?'_

 

Prowl frowned, visor flattening. Nell was still asleep. He didn't want to wake her. He didn't want to see her remember the night before, like he was now. “Yes.”

 

The old medic sighed on his end, and a short burst of static told the ninja bot that Ratchet had transformed.  _'I'm on my way. Any idea what happened?'_

 

Prowl kept his voice low, that way he wouldn't wake Nell. He glanced at her. She had rolled onto her stomach, face in the pillow, an arm dangling. How could she sleep like that? How could she sleep at _all_ , with this calamity pressing down on her? He did not know. “I'm not certain. One of Nell's horses was mutilated... and I have reason to believe that Sentinel Prime was the one responsible.”

 

_'We've all got reasons, Prowl. What I'm gonna need is evidence.'_

 

“I know. Do you need me to show you where he-” Nell started to move, rolling over to face him, eyes closed. Prowl stopped talking. She yawned, and opened her eyes.

 

_'Ya okay, Prowl?'_

 

The human sat up, blinking a few times. “Prowl? Uh, what...” she stopped herself, and blinked. He watched her, his vents hitching as he saw the memories dawn on her. “Oh... oh my god.” she muttered, voice a low rasp. Her hands shook, her chest heaving with suppressed panting. “Champ is... oh my god!” The woman's hands were hiding in her hair, eyes staring at the doorway, eyebrows pinched to form a heavy crease in her forehead.

 

He had cut off the call to Ratchet. The ninja bot frowned, visor flat at the top. Her pulse was pounding, her cheeks hot. Prowl knew what that meant for humans. Telling her it would be alright would not help. He didn't know what to do. “It's natural for humans to cry, Nell. Hiding it will only hurt you more,”

 

“Think I like getting upset around you?” Nell mumbled, curling into herself a bit. “Think I like looking _stupid_ around you?”

 

Prowl could understand why Nell was against crying. Most humans were for some reason. He also understood that she was in pain, and not in the mood to talk about it. “You're not stupid, and if you want me to leave you alone, I will.” he didn't want to leave her alone like this, but if it was what she wanted, then-

 

Her hand clasped his arm, shaking and hot. “Don't.” she chocked out, voice cracking. “Don't go. I'm just... dammit, this hurts,” the woman growled sharply, hiding her eyes behind her right hand, left arm coming away from his arm to curl around her stomach. “I'm stuck, Prowl. I don't know what to do,” with that, Nell curled into a ball, shaking and hiding her face. “Can't protect the horses, can't do anything... I fucked up!” her voice deepened and cracked.

 

The ninja bot frowned, staying silent, rubbing his hand carefully across her back. He moved it to her right shoulder, slowly, carefully, sliding it under her chin. Prowl lifted her head to look at him, her teeth clenched and lips parted, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Nell...” he said softly. The woman moved forward, and he pulled her into his arms, ever careful of her left side. “It's alright...” even though he knew it wasn't.

 

Nell buried her face in his neck plating, sobbing. By this point, she didn't care how stupid she looked doing this, she needed Prowl. She didn't really want to admit it, but she needed him. She could think later. Her arms wrapped around his neck, half hiding from him.

 

The ninja bot wasn't sure what to do. He'd never handled humans that were this upset. Now wasn't a time to pull away. He had never really been into being touched, let alone _clung_ to... stop thinking. Nell needed him _now_. He leaned against the wall behind him, and hugged the woman in his arms. Hearing her crying hurt him. It hurt because there was nothing he could do. Robots couldn't cry, but there was a part of him that wanted to. “Shh...” that was all he could be, a shoulder to cry on. He couldn't express his grief in ways humans could. Prowl hoped that being here was enough for her. He hid his nose in her hair.

 

The human grew quiet, but she was still crying. Removing her face from his neck, she rested her wet cheek on his chest, feeling his spark as it pulsed beneath. “I'm sorry, Prowl,” Nell said, voice a swollen croak. “I'm so sorry.” she tried to get out of his lap, but he wouldn't let her go. He had his arms around her, and he had no intention of letting her go. Not yet.

 

Prowl's left hand slid into the woman's hair, cupping her head to pull her forward. He touched his chevron to her forehead, waiting. Just waiting and holding her until she was ready to talk. Ready to listen. “Nell,” he said quietly, other arm curling around her back. “Don't be sorry.” it was natural.

 

The woman kept her eyes closed. “I'm supposed to protect them.”

 

“I know, Nell...” he kept his voice low, looking at her, visor going from flat to risen in the center. It bumped her forehead. The woman opened her eyes, looking She could swear, as close as they were that moment, that she could see his optics through the visor. Almost... “But you can't protect everyone.”

 

Nell closed her eyes. That did it. Now, she was sure. She loved Prowl. “...I need a shower.”

 

He smiled softly, brushing her cheek with his palm. “I have to agree.” she certainly didn't smell _good_.

 

Nell wanted to smile at him, but she was tired. Awake for twenty minutes, and she was tired. Stupid crying jag. “I'm gonna...”

 

“You don't have to explain yourself to me.” he said gently as she climbed out of his arms and down the ladder. A door opened and shut, and he was alone in the barn. He had heard Ratchet arrive when Nell had clung to his neck. The medibot must have used an alternate route, or be wanted for more than a few speeding tickets...

 

He heard the shower turn on down below, and he hopped from the loft. He had to talk to Ratchet about this. The ninja bot stepped into the field where Ratchet stood, the blue tarp hardly hiding the horror underneath. The medibot saw him, and frowned. The darker bot looked at the tarp as he walked toward Ratchet. “What do you think?”

 

“I think it's sick, for one thing, and... well, here's the problem.” the medic said, pointing at the horse. “The stuff matches up, that's the good news. Height of the attacker, energy signature, everything. I have no doubt that Sentinel's the one to do this.” he paused, crossing his arms. “But.”

 

“...but?”

 

“BUT Sentinel's been locked up. His weapons were confiscated after you mauled him, and he's down an optic.” he looked sympathetically at the ninja bot. “This is gonna be tricky. We got all the evidence we need, but he's got one air tight alibi.”

 

Prowl frowned, jaw tightening. No... if Sentinel got away with _this_ , what then? Would he come after Nell again? He had a thought. His alibi wasn't quite air tight, that he knew. “The Jet Twins had let him out once before. Could they have done it again?”

 

Ratchet sighed. “It's possible. They're gonna do what he tells them to do... he's their commanding officer, but the Magnus is... pit, he's in charge of all this! If they did let that glitch out, those two are gonna be in a heap of trouble. If they gave him his weapons... I don't know what'll happen.”

 

Prowl stayed silent, as he had done many times before.

 

The medic took out a rag, and cleaned his hands of the horses blood. No one said it wouldn't be messy. “So... how'd it go in there with Nellie?”

 

“You heard that?” Nell wasn't loud, and he was certainly quiet. The medic smirked, and pointed at him.

 

“I'm lookin' at it.” Prowl beeped, and looked down at his chest plate. He was covered in smudges, easily her fingertips as she tried to get away. “Guessin' she took this pretty hard. How you holdin' up?”

 

“I'm... well.” like he could say that he wanted to rip that idiot Sentinel's spark out. “Why are the Elite Guard even here?”

 

Ratchet sighed, putting the rag away. “Wish I knew, Prowl.”

 

**X**

 

With some persuasion, Prowl took Nell to the base. He did not let her out of his sight. He didn't know what would happen, but he wanted to be there. For no reason that was supported by any sense of logic, Prowl had to remain outside the ship. Ratchet was allowed inside, though, but only to give Ultra Magnus the report.

 

The Magnus sat at his desk, scrolling through the data pad that Ratchet had compiled. His optics narrowed, but he said nothing. Nell stood the entire time. She didn't want to sit, she felt she might fall asleep. She just wished Ultra Magnus would say something. Anything... the silence hurt. He was now staring at the pictures before him. He glanced at them, upper lip curling in disgust. This was horrible.

 

He looked down at Nell, setting the evidence aside. “I'm sorry to hear about your animal, Nell.” He was more sickened that he had to look at the pictures. Horrible, what happened to that creature. “Sentinel Prime has been under the guard of the twins. They took shifts, I made sure of it. His cell was not left unattended.” He understood their suspicion. “I will look further into it. The Twins will be questioned separately this time.” That way, he could see if their stories matched.

 

Nell's insides dropped out, hollow. With this in front of him, he didn't believe her. The woman looked Ultra Magnus head on, eyes tired and red from crying and lack of sleep. “...you're a fucking idiot.” she then stormed out, the door hardly up fast enough to let her by.

 

She was hellbent on getting home, but something all too familiar stopped her. “Short one?”

 

Nell looked behind her, and looked at the Jet Twins. They looked confused, if not worried. They were at her level in a moment, both frowning.

 

“Short one, what is wrong?” Jetstorm asked.

 

“Ya, what is wrong?” asked Jetfire.

 

Nell sighed, back to a nearby wall. “I... something happened. Something bad.”

 

“What?” they asked together. They wanted to know what was wrong. The two younglings hadn't a clue what Sentinel had done. They had only done what he said, which was give him his weapons so he could have a private practice session outside. When they questioned it, he screamed at them. What choice did they have? They were only doing what he had told them. They were his soldiers. They had to do what he told them to, they had no choice!

 

“The other night... someone killed one of my horses. I think... Sentinel's who did it,” she coughed, throat raw. “But Magnus doesn't believe me... Ratchet even gave him the evidence! ...I thought this would be over.” she was so tired.

 

“Sentinel Prime is _still_ being bad bot to short one?” Jetstorm asked.

 

Jetfire's faceplate pinched. “Brother, Sentinel Prime is bad bot to _us_ , too.”

 

The human sniffed. She felt horrible that they had to deal with that stupid robot. If Sentinel treated fellow Autobots badly, like the twins just said, then there was no hope for her horses being safe. “I give up.” why did she bother? She really needed Prowl right now.

 

The Jet Twins looked down at Nell, then they looked at each other. Nell watched them, wiping her cheeks. They looked at each other, not speaking. They made gestures, shrugging, and pointing, but they said nothing. She guessed they were using comm-links, but she didn't know. The more they gestured, the angrier they seemed to become.

 

Jetstorm gasped, horrified, Jetfire gritting his teeth. The two gave each other a firm nod, done 'talking', it seemed. With a frown from Jetstorm, and what seemed like a snarl from Jetfire, the two changed into Safeguard. They looked down at her, angry at something. “To pit with protocol.” and the combined twins tore out of sight.

 

“Guys!” but they were gone, leaving Nell standing against the wall. “Dammit, when's anyone gonna listen to me?” she mumbled softly.

 

**X**

 

Safeguard charged down the hall of the ship, stomping and growling. They had had enough of this. Enough of being used and lied to. They knew where to find Sentinel. The last time this happened, when Nell spit on Sentinel, they had been interrogated. Sentinel went first, and, seeing that they were going to be called into that cramped, cold room yet again because of that arrogant, big chinned bot, now was the time.

 

They listened for the voices they knew, and heard the Autobot Supreme Commander inside. The door was torn off, and an orange and blue blur shoved the Magnus out of the way, the table flipped, the chairs flying, and a tangle of limbs and metal rolling on the floor. “Blurr, Jazz, report to interrogation room Beta!” In all of three seconds, Safeguard had Sentinel on his back, straddling him, teeth bared, hammering away anything that was foolish enough to lay under their combined fists. Sentinel fought back, though, and it wasn't long before a fist fight at full blast broke out on the floor. Blurr raced in, and tackled Safeguard, only for the twins to come apart in his grasp.

 

Knowing he could only take down one of the twins, he chose Jetfire, pinning him to the wall. Jetstorm continued to wail on Sentinel, the covering for the blue bot's optic torn off. Sentinel screamed, and swung hard, striking the jet in the chest plate. Jazz had arrived, and pulled Jetstorm up and away. A set of angry young seekers and an unstable Prime was not easy to deal with.

 

“Glitch! Glitch!” Sentinel screamed, stumbling to his pedes. Ultra Magnus pinned him down with a sharp blow from the end of his hammer and a heavy pede. “Get off me!”he yelled, thrashing madly, optic glowing.

 

“We are DONE being tool for stupid Leno-bot!” Jetstorm all but screamed, kicking in Jazz's grip.

 

Jetfire flung out his free arm, a streak of red flames slicing the air. “He forced us to let him go! He used us to hurt short one!” Blurr had he and his brother cuffed, but the two continued to scream.

 

“Made us lie!”

 

“Hurt short one!”

 

“Used us to hurt friend!”

 

“Called us traitors if we told!”

 

Sentinel's voice screeched back at them, words laced with static from the strain, one optic blazing hot white. “You filthy pit spawns! I told you to mute it! Traitors!” the pede on his back pressed harder, the end of a certain hammer slamming down next to his head.

 

“Enough!” the Magnus was beyond anger, and it showed. His voice grew quiet, his hardly controlled glare turning to Jazz. “Jazz, take the Twins to Ratchet.” he looked at Blurr with just his optics. “Agent Blurr, arrest Sentinel Prime.” Jazz hoisted the Twins to their pedes, and tugged them out of the ship.

 

“You're arresting me?!” no, no this didn't make sense. They were arresting him for doing his job? He had to protect them! That's what he had done, all he had done was protect them! Organics ruin everything, and he gets punished? He didn't have much time to think after that, because a rather large finger had dug into his neck seams, and had tapped certain circuit breaker, sending him into stasis lock.

 

“Blurr,” Ultra Magnus said sternly, stepping away from his second in command. “Re-cuff him. I want his hands behind his back.” he pulled the prone bot upward, and held him as Blurr did as commanded.

 

The speed demon blinked, and grabbed one of the blue Prime's arms to hold him up. Blurr was stronger than he looked. “Should-I-do-his-legs-too-sir-I-mean-he-seemed-pretty-hostile-and-he-did-kick-at-the-twins-to-get-them-off-didn't-he?”

 

“You may do so,” the Magnus said frowning at the Prime. What had happened to him? “I plan to have Ratchet examine him, but only while he is offline.” the elder bot sighed. “Take him to the brig, Blurr.”

 

Blurr blinked at his commander. “Where-are-you-going-sir?”

 

The Magnus stopped, and sighed, lowering his helm a little. “I'm going to talk with Nell.”

 

**X**

 

Nell sat in the medbay, unsure what to do now. Prowl stood next to her, close by and frowning. He hadn't meant to carry her into the medbay, but he wanted to get her away from the ship. He didn't like the Elite Guard any more than before. They were in here because Ratchet had called Nell in for something, but the bot was nowhere to be seen. “I'm going to put in a special request with Optimus.” Prowl started, arms folded.

 

“For what?” the short female asked beside him.

 

“If it's alright by you, Nell, I'm going to request staying at your home.”

 

She blinked. “You don't have to do that!”

 

“With all that has happened, I feel I should.” he didn't want her to get hurt. He felt some blame for what happened to Champ. What would happen to the body?

 

“Hey guys.” the two looked to see Sari step inside. “Ratchet's kind of busy, so he's having me do this part. Nellie, you're gonna have to take your shirt off for this, so Prowl, could you step out for a bit?”

 

He nodded, and looked back at Nell. He placed his palm on her back. “I'm going to talk to Optimus about this, alright? I'm not sure how long it will take.”

 

She smiled weakly at him. “I'll find a ride home.”

 

Prowl smiled at her, and left the room. Nell looked at Sari, smile fading. “So... where were you last time I was here?” the whole reason for her coming to the plant-at least in the beginning-was to see Sari, but for her to not be there was a little odd.

 

“Oh,” the teen held up a small jar, showing a tiny, green speck. “This is the main reason...” she had enough time to make the tracker. Bulkhead's schematics were easy enough to follow. It was such detailed work, but worth it.

 

The woman watched Sari prepare the chip. “And your other reason?”

 

The teen shuffled. “Uh... well... Sentinel got a little too close a while ago. Optimus wanted me to be somewhere safer than here.”

 

“Did he attack you?”

 

“Uh... not really. He just screamed at me for a few minutes. 'What is she planning? What is she planning?' Pfft! What a glitch head.”

 

Nell nodded, but blinked at the needle. “...do you even know how to do it?”

 

Her eyes flickered, and she smiled. “Do now.” the teen said, loading the needle.

 

“That's reassuring.” the woman mumbled.

 

“Don't be such a baby, I haven't done it yet.”

 

There was a quick swab of alcohol over her shoulder, and a sharp jab. “Ow!” Sari slapped a bandage over the chip's entry, and tossed out the syringe. “You done?”

 

“Yup!”

 

Nell blinked, and her shoulders heaved. That had been easy, but what had been on her mind for a few hours wasn't. She needed help with this. “Sari,” the woman croaked, eyes glassy. “Do me a favor.”

 

“Sure.” she said, nodding.

 

Nell took a few deep breaths, and swallowed. “I want you to tell Prowl.”

 

“Tell him what?” she had to be sure. She didn't want to upset her friend by telling him the wrong thing.

 

“Everything.” it was now, or never. “Sari, look... I love Prowl. I just... I can't tell him about this. I can't! He's gotta know.” if she had any hopes for them being together, then no more secrets. “Please. Sari, tell him for me, okay? I can't do this anymore.” it had been a long time since the woman felt this helpless, this tired. She didn't even bother with her voice at this point.

 

The techno-teen blinked, glowing eyes large. “You sure, Nellie? He's your friend, and I know him pretty well. He's not gonna freak out.” she had no doubt in her mind that the ninja bot would be fine about it. But she didn't blame her friend for being so scared. Sari hugged the short female, and squeezed. “Don't worry, okay? I can tell him... maybe Ratchet can do it better than me.”

 

Nell sniffed, and smiled. “Yeah, might help.”

 

Sari nodded with a bright smile. “Come on, I'll take you home. Doctor's orders.” she said with a wink.

 

Nell smiled ruefully. “You still have that scooter?”

 

“You bet.” the teen linked arms with the much shorter human, as she had done when they were both younger. They walked out the back entrance, toward a back road. At the main entryway stood a familiar blue and white bot, hammer in hand. He saw the two, walking toward them.

 

“Nell.” the bot looked at her, seeming... what, ashamed, maybe? “I've come here to apologize. Sentinel Prime has been found to have... an old battle injury, that has impaired his judgment. We will be leaving the planet within a week so that he may be repaired. You have my sympathies for what has happened here.”

 

Nell blinked at him, looked at a rather annoyed Sari, then back at the Magnus. “Save it. I never want to see him again. I'm going home to bury my horse. Thanks for trying to fix this... but you screwed up. My horse is dead, and you can't fix that. I'm going home.” she dragged Sari by the arm into the lot, and the two prepared to go. Ultra Magnus sighed, and stood. He had work to do.

 

**X**

 

It took ten minutes round trip to scan Sentinel, another ten to find the problem, and another ten to patch up the twins. Things came in threes on this planet. “Alright, you're done.” said the medibot, smiling at the younglings. For getting into a fight with a Prime, they came out okay. Jetfire needed his lower lip welded, but they were both fine physically. But emotionally, they weren't so hot. They smiled back at him, but it was forced. Sentinel had done more damage than they thought.

 

Jazz leaned into the medbay, smirking. The twins looked fine now. “Boys, why dontcha wait outside the base for me. I got some boring stuff to do here. Why not do a practice spar in the back lot, just hand to hand, no fancy fire or wind. You know, classic stuff.” he smiled at them as they stood up. “I'll be with you in a beat, we clear?”

 

“Yes sir, mister Jazz sir!” and they were off, beaming at each other.

 

“Mister Jazz?” the medic asked with a quirked eyebrow.

 

The white bot smiled sheepishly. “Magnus put the twins under my command, seeing that Sentinel's gone fishing and all.” Jazz was glad to have the two of them under him. They needed a supporter, not a drill sergeant.

 

“You get anything from them before you brought them in?” the medic asked.

 

“Seems that Sentinel's been off the deep end a lot longer than we thought. He had them scared to pit that they'd be put offline if they went against him. Calling them traitors if they did, showed them scans of what happens to some bots thrown in jail.” they would be alright with time... but Sentinel's general abuse towards them was rather obvious. They weren't as mischievous as they once were, and it bothered him. “Man... they're just younglings, they didn't know what to do.” Jazz said, frowning at the scan. He had to get to the real matter, which was Sentinel's processor. “So, what do I tell Ultra Magnus about this crazy guy?”

 

The old medic sighed, and enlarged the scan. “Crazy's as close as you're gonna get with this one. You see this up here?” he said, pointing at a small, red dot on the screen.

 

“Mhmm, ain't sure what I'm looking at, doc.”

 

“ _That_ is where Sentinel Prime's logic cortex is. It's a complicated thing that all of us have, and that's his. However-” he enlarged the scan further, giving the white bot a clear view of the cortex, all of it's tiny wires and nodes showing. “-you hit _any_ bot hard enough, somethin's gonna come undone. That's what happened with Sentinel. Battle injury that got overlooked. From what I get outta his behavior, there's been a damaged chip in there for some time. A lot longer than your landing here.” the medibot growled to himself. “How long has been abusing the twins?”

 

Jazz frowned, arms crossed. “I can't give you a solid answer, doc bot. I'd have to guess, from what they told me, about six stellar cycles. Maybe more.”

 

“Seems about right from the scan...” Ratchet nodded at the young bot. “There's nothing I can do for him here. You're gonna have to haul that glitch head back to Cybertron, get him a new logic cortex as soon as you can. A repair is out of the question. It's too delicate, me going anywhere near it'd make him worse. Get him a new one, and _watch_ him. Until then, he's a threat to all of ya, not just Nellie and her world. Get him off Earth before things get worse.”

 

Jazz whirred. After seeing those pictures of the horse, how could it get worse?

 

**X**

 

Sentinel sat in his cell, rocking on the floor. He had awoken not long ago, frantic in the dark. This couldn't be happening. They had all turned on him, but they didn't understand what was going on. He had to protect them. They couldn't see it. That organic, all organics... they ruined his life. It was their fault. Organics took Elita away and turned her into a monster. Organics... they were all monsters, glitches in the system of the universe!

 

Now he had lost the twins thanks to them... why couldn't anyone see what he saw? Scaring the twins was the only way to protect them! The meat-bag was the one that was fragging everything up! He should have killed her when he had the chance, but that pathetic ninja was there to stop him! He was on her side in all this. Prowl had a servo in this, he knew it! They were all against him... they were all being controlled by that stupid organic!

 

“That glitch... glitch... glitch...glitch.” there was a glitch in the system, in _his_ system. He had only been trying to fix the glitch, and it backfired. He had tried to get that human out of the way. Then, everything would be back to how it was, before they got to this mud ball.

 

Like a switch, it dawned on him. This was... this was _perfect!_ This gave him a great opportunity to finally fix the glitch. Wait, just wait, and plan, like he had before.

 

All he had to do was wait. He'd know when to move. _He always knew._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's dropping the ball, and then there's shotputting the ball through a priceless stained glass window.


	36. Seen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nell's secret is out.

Chapter Thirty Six: Seen

 

_People are frightened by what they don't understand. ~ John Merrick, The Elephant Man._

 

**X**

 

Time passes slowly in silence. Silence on Earth was different than on the moon. No wind, no outside sound, nothing. There were no creaky boards to disperse it.

 

Starscream didn't like silence, but he had nothing to say. Nothing worthwhile, anyway. He and Sarah had been home, on the moon, for a few days. He avoided her like a virus. Even his arias had gone silent. His work, his special work for _**Project Icarus**_ _,_ lay half painted and sullen. The bright turquoise paint still shone brightly, the stencils he would use, had so wanted to use, lay stacked next to it.

 

Nothing.

 

He had far from abandoned Sarah, but he wasn't sure what to do with her anymore. Despite his dedication to the project, part of him didn't want to do it. Oh, he'd do it no matter what... but it wouldn't be worth it now if he had to force her. Oh well, time to feed the female. He stood, and left the work room. The walked into the main room, the throne room, the room where Sarah was kept. He glanced at her, but looked away when she looked up.

 

She put the tube in her mouth, and drank, eyeing him. He'd normally stay there, in the main room, this room, and watch her eat. He just walked away now. All he did was come in to turn on the feeding machine. Sarah frowned, glaring at him, hoping to burn holes in his wings or something, anything. “What is wrong with you?” she asked him, genuinely upset. He could feel it, her confusion, her concern. She didn't blink or look away.

 

Starscream curled his claws, teeth bared. He turned sharply to look back at Sarah. Why did she stare at him like that? Why did she have to give him that look?! “...slaggit!” he shrieked before punching a wall. He stood there, panting at the anger inside and the pain in his claws. There was so much he had to say, but he didn't want to look stupid in front of her. He rested his helm against the wall, optics closed in thought. What was he going to do?

 

“Starscream...” Sarah said from the tank. She walked to the barrier, and placed her hand on it. “What's going on?” after moments of rather frightening silence, Sarah whimpered. What was wrong with the bot she loved? “You haven't said anything in days! You won't even look at me anymore. Dammit, what's going on with you? Why don't you just tell me... please.”

 

The seeker lifted his head, staring somberly at the wall. He whirred loudly, dragging his claws down the wall, peeling away what little remained of the dull purple paint, curls of metal falling to the floor with an ear-splitting screech. The new scratches would blend with the old eventually. As would the many dents. The magenta seeker straightened, and turned to his human. She was his, and no one would change that. No one, that is, but her. She wanted so badly to understand why he was acting this way? He'd tell her.

 

“You have to understand!” he said, raising his hands to the ceiling, looking at her as if asking for help. “You... _belong_ to me... but only if you _want_ to be mine.” he sounded stupid to himself, but the seeker continued on with his rant. If he didn't say it now, he never would. It was better to look stupid than to never say a word. “If you want to go back to that wretched mud ball, then I'll take you there.” he spun his back to her, looking at the ceiling. “If you want to... stay here with me... then... then that is what we'll do!” he turned back to her, one fist over his cockpit. “You give me the _word_ , Sarah, and I will give you the _world_!” he said, holding his arms wide as if to show how much he meant it. “If it's what you want... I'll do it.” and he meant it. Seekers were known for being protective of their mates, and Starscream was no exception. Only Sarah wasn't his mate, she was his test subject.

  
Sarah flushed, feeling a lump in her throat.. What the hell was he talking about? “What?”

 

“GRR! Idiot!” the magenta seeker growled loudly, slamming his palm into the side of his helm.

 

Sarah jumped, and yelled, “Don't do that!” he was messed up enough!

 

He blinked slowly, and brought his hand down. She looked so scared right then, but she was still lovely. He didn't know why he found her lovely, though. It certainly wasn't her looks that did it, she was not ugly, but not pretty. Plain, that was it. She had fire in her, and fight in her, and that was what mattered to him. The magenta seeker wasn't so confused anymore.

 

“Fine... okay, you know what I want, Starscream?” she asked quietly, trying to keep her voice from cracking. He drew close, lips parted. “I want to know what I am for you, okay? If I'm anything at all, what the hell do you feel when you look at a thing like me?” she was waiting, heart thundering in her sparse chest, for him to call her something nasty.

 

She wanted to... she didn't know? How could she not know! He had to remember that humans didn't express things the way seekers did. “What do I feel?” Starscream blinked, and reached into the tank, picking her up as carefully as he could. It was always an issue he had when picking her up that he may impale her on one of his claws. “I feel something where my Spark should be.” he held her close to his face, looking at her with a strange, confident look. Finally, he knew what to say. “It's... um, it's...” he couldn't say it. The seeker didn't know why it was so hard to do, but it was! He was going crazy! “...love.”

 

Sarah swallowed, looking out at him through her hair, her lungs too tight to breath. “...love?” she chocked out.

 

Starscream's optics widened, and he smiled, holding her with both hands. She did understand! She knew what he felt! She understood! “Yes!” he practically shrieked. “It's love, Sarah! That is what I feel when I look at you! I feel love! I look at you, and I feel it. That's why I've been so quiet... words tend to evade even _me_ at times.” his classic cocky tone returned, knowing he had finally found the right words.

 

The female was confused. “...what?” she asked, looking at him for the millionth time like he was insane.

 

“It may seem strange, but I do. I love you, Sarah. Believe me, I don't just go flying around, yelling that at any femme that floats by.” he said, stroking her hair and back, feeling his circuits buzz from excitement.

 

Sarah felt ready to cry, but she bit the inside of her cheek instead. The seeker, seeming to sense her emotions, sat on his berth. “Is this what you want, too? To remain here with me? Do you want to go back to Earth, and leave me here on the Moon to find another human? Talk, Sarah, or I shall make the choice.” he said with a little more anger than he meant. Why did he keep threatening her? It never did any good!

 

Sarah looked into his dark red optics, feeling her lip tremble. Her chest heaved, lungs realizing they were there again. “...keep me...” she said, half sobbing. “Keep me with you. I don't care what you end up doing with me just don't-” she sobbed into her hands, digging her nails into her scalp, hoping it would shut her up. “-don't put me back to that fucking planet.” she cried, hiding her face in her hands. She'd die on that stupid planet. That stupid planet full of rapists and monsters.

 

Starscream, after a second or two of shock, nudged her with his nose. He loved her, and now she was crying? He didn't understand humans in the least, when he thought of it. He wrapped his hands around her shaking form, pulling her to his mouth. Why would he put her on that Primus-forsaken mud ball if she didn't want it? Didn't she understand? “Never again...” he mumbled, pressing his mouth to her wet cheek. “You won't be left there again, do you hear me?” the seeker whispered roughly. He slid his glossa carefully across her cheek and neck, hoping to sooth her. He hated the idea of his human being so upset. She seemed to calm down, although she still shook like mad.

 

Sarah reached out to him, putting her hand next to his mouth, touching his lower lip. “...you've... you've done sick things to me... but you've done more for me than any human has...” she said quietly. “I know I sound stupid, and I look ugly, and I'm always angry-” why did he love her anyway?

 

Starscream snorted, pulling back. “Oh, what, you say that like I'm some sort of god. I am, but that's not the point... We have far more things in common than you think, you and I,” he muttered, touching her cheek with his thumb claw. “I know for a fact, my dear, that you are far from stupid,” the seeker carefully curled her hair around a claw. “-and, so you don't yell at me like that last time we argued about your looks, I'll say this,” he frowned slightly. “By human standards, you're plain. Not ugly by any means... but you aren't a stunner.” he said, mouth a flat line. He then smiled, raising an eyebrow. “But since when do I go by human standards?”

 

Tears pooled in her eyes, and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “I'm glad you don't go by stupid human standards.”

 

He fiddled with her hair with a claw tip, smiling. “Seekers have the highest standards known to both Bot and Con alike. To say you've met them is an understatement.”

 

She giggled quietly, stroking his claws and smiling. “Okay, you're overdoing it now.”

 

“Oh, am I?” he was happy. Starscream was so happy now. Now, he had nothing to hide from her. She loved him, too, which was more than he had hoped for. He didn't deal with rejection at all, and this was... well it was certainly more than he expected! He had Sarah now, really had her, and had nothing more to hide!

 

Well, almost nothing. Perhaps, _**Project Icarus**_ wasn't so impossible now.

 

**X**

 

This was the second time it happened, Nell going home with someone else. Prowl didn't mind, so long as she got home. Still... her being out of sight didn't really sit well with him. Oh well, it had been a while ago, and it was about midnight now. He had heard the news about Sentinel, about the twins, and about Jazz. He smiled. Jazz was an excellent teacher, and those two needed someone who knew what he was doing. Prowl was still awake. He didn't need sleep like humans did; none of them did, really.

 

Maybe that was why Sari comming him wasn't that much of a shock. “Hello, Sari.”

 

_'Uh, hey, Prowl. You busy?'_

 

“No. Do you need something?”

 

_'Yeah, could you come out here for a minute? I gotta talk to you.'_

 

“Alright.” he walked out of his room, going to the main room. He hadn't expected to see Ratchet as well as Optimus in the room. Sari was on the concrete couch, next to the medic. Optimus stood behind the two, mouth crooked. “What... did you need?” this felt strange to him.

 

Sari swallowed, blinking. “I... well, there's something you need to know. Nellie wanted me to, uh, talk to you.” The techno-teen winced, “You know how, uh... have you ever noticed that Nellie's voice gets deeper when she's upset?”

 

Prowl whirred. “I have.”

 

Sari nodded. “Okay, and, you know how she's got... large hands and feet?” she asked, flexing her hands.

 

Prowl's visor narrowed a bit. What was Sari saying? “She also has wide shoulders for a human female. I don't see why you need to tell me what I already know.”

 

Sari sighed, rubbing her forehead with her exposed hand. “But Prowl, that's the thing. You don't know.”

 

The ninja bot stood still, visor rising a bit in the center. “I don't understand.”

 

“Kid, you're gonna wanna sit down for this...” Ratchet said.

 

Prowl whirred, and sat down on a crate. “Ratchet, what's going on?”

 

The medibot sighed, not enjoying this. “Kid, what was Nellie's old name? Did she ever bring that up?”

 

“Her _old_ name?” he thought about it, trying to remember. She had told him a long time ago. “Oh, Matilda. I think that was it. She didn't say her middle name, though.” he looked at Sari, who was looking at her lap. She was being strangely quiet. Optimus stood behind the couch, frowning. He didn't look happy with how this conversation was going. “Is... that wrong?”

 

Ratchet nodded, and frowned. “She lied to you about that, Prowl, but she didn't do it to hurt you. Her current name is Helena Calder Simon, but her _birth_ name was Mathew Simon Grinder, not Matilda, like she said.”

 

Prowl beeped. Mathew was a male name, but... wait a klick, no way! “What are you saying to me?”

 

The medibot sighed, and crossed his arms. “I'm saying that Nellie was _born_ a male. She's what's known as a transsexual on this planet, meaning she had her gender changed from male to female, man to woman, or mech to femme if that makes things easier to understand. She got reformatted is what I'm tellin' ya.”

 

The ninja bot beeped, and stared for a minute or so. When he thought about it, and he had to wonder how he didn't notice what was now obvious. Nell was trans-gender. His race was androgynous by definition. Mechs and femmes on his home world underwent something like that every day. It was common on his world. He hadn't known that it happened here. “That's it?”

 

Sari looked more than a little miffed at that. “What do you mean, 'that's it'?”

 

Prowl whirred, and looked at Sari calmly. “I understand what you and Ratchet are saying, but I don't see why it's an issue. It happens on Cybertron every day. Mechs becoming femmes, femmes becoming mechs. It doesn't change anything between Nell and I. I'll understand things better now, how her mind works, how she sees things.” this was actually good that he knew. It would, hopefully, help him understand the woman he loved, which he wanted. He didn't see what the big deal was.

 

The red haired techno-teen growled in irritation. “It's not the same! On this planet, people who want to change their gender get judged and hurt all the time. Humans aren't as open minded as you guys are. You know how Nellie's so shy about her hip scars? Why do you think that guy hurt her?”

 

“He attacked her because she was... she was still a male?” he said, trying to hide his shock. Hurting someone who had been reformatted was unheard of. On his home world, reformatting was common, but here, on Earth... was it so rare that people _hated_ it? Hated Nell for being what she was?

 

The teen nodded, eyes on the ground, mismatched hands balled into tight, shaking fists. “She wasn't even halfway through transitioning. He was an asshole. I was right there when he grabbed her. He called her a fagot, and he was so drunk he was aiming at her crotch. He tried to neuter her with a pocket knife! 'You want it that bad, fagot?' then he stabbed her!” the teen hid her face in her knees, Optimus scooping her up for a hug.

 

“On our planet, it's a part of life. On this planet, it's seen as wrong.” Optimus said quietly. He looked at Prowl, hand on Sari's back to calm her. “I never pretend to understand how human's see things, but I don't want to know what makes anyone think they can justify something like that.”

 

Prowl whirred. “You were there?” what else had they hidden from him?

 

“No,” the Prime said quietly. “But I was at the hospital to see Nellie was alright. We talked for a long time about things. She made a deal with me. When she was reformatted and a full femme, she'd come visit us.” he smiled a little. She had said it would be safer that way for Sari. “Fate's a funny thing. She knew us all, except for you. You were training, busy.” he was right, fate was funny. “She didn't meet you until she was reformatted, and you brought her here.” Optimus had never been a Primus loving mech, but he knew when things were more than coincidence.

 

Prowl frowned, and stood. “What do I tell her?” now that he knew, did he tell her he knew? Did he tell her it didn't matter that she was trans-gender? Did he avoid it? What was he supposed to do? It wasn't an issue back home, but here, on Earth... Primus, this was confusing!

 

Optimus whirred, setting Sari on his shoulder. She scooted toward his neck, resting her cheek on his antennae. “Wait until morning. It's late, she's probably asleep by now. You'll have time to think it over.”

 

“Optimus,” the dark bot whirred, visor rising in the center. “Is this the reason that you argued with me about Nell? Did... you think this would effect me badly?”

 

The Prime shrugged, smiling sadly. “I wouldn't say badly. I just wanted to hear it from you. You're a good bot, Prowl, but you don't have to prove it to _me_.” he never had to prove it.

 

Ratchet stood up, stretching his arms over his helm. “He's got nothin' to prove to Nellie, either. She knows he's a good bot.”

 

Prowl chirruped, and stood. “I'm glad that you told me about Nell, but I have to ask,” he said, looking at the old medic. “Did Nell ask you to tell me?”

 

“Yep,” he replied, heading to his room. “She ain't scared, she's shy. You know that, Prowl.”

 

He nodded, and stood. “Is that all you need from me?”

 

Sari nodded from Optimus's shoulder. “Yeah.”

 

“Come on, Sari, lets get to bed.” he said, smiling at her. She was so cute when tired. He looked back at Prowl, and waved. “Have a good night, Prowl.”

 

Prowl stood where he was for a moment, fully processing what he had been told. He walked back to his room, smiling a little. Nell, the woman he loved, was born a man. She had been reformatted, from a man to a woman, and was identified as such. Come to think of it, even if she wasn't fully formatted, he'd be fine with it. He didn't live by the narrow minds of humans. This was... interesting. No, more than interesting... mind opening.

 

The dark bot lay on the roof, looking at the moon, hands behind his helm. This wasn't what he had expected, but it didn't change how he felt about Nell. He loved her, and now that this was out in the open, he would find it easier to understand her. That made him smile, made his spark hum, made his circuits buzz a little. He decided to tell her when tomorrow came, about knowing Nell's reformatting, about how it didn't matter, and that he loved her. It all made him a bit nervous, but even so, he couldn't wait until the morning. “My Nell.” and he went into a short recharge.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Used to think this was groundbreaking.


	37. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole wants answers.

Chapter Thirty Seven: Reveal

 

_You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough. ~ Frank Crane_

 

**X**

 

In all honesty, boredom was common in the Decepticon base. Blitzwing was entertaining, really, but even he couldn't be a fun guy all the time. So, Megatron turned to the little blond male known as Cole for such things. The teens dancing wasn't perfect, but seeing him scramble to cover a screw up was so much fun. He was quite good at that.

 

Except, Cole refused. He simply _refused_ to dance. This was odd, very odd.

 

His attempts at being stern were quite amusing. “I'm not doing it,” the blond said, arms crossed in the face of the Decepticon Overlord. “You put me through hell, Megatron. I'm not dancing for you anymore.”

 

Oh, the little meatball was rebelling, was he? “Surely, little human, there is something you want?” he didn't care if Cole never danced again. He was curious, though, to know what, if anything, he wanted. He might not take it into account, but there was nothing else to do.

 

The blond blinked. “I want an answer from you, on something important, with no bullshit.” he meant it, too. He blinked, and frowned. “Can we do that?”

 

“I see no reason why not.” the silver hellion purred. Ooh, an angry Cole was strangely... cute. He would admit it, if just to himself. Cole, when angry and determined and more than a little unbalanced, was cute. “Well?”

 

“...what are you keeping me for, Megatron? What is the reason you took me as a hostage?”

 

Megatron smirked. “It's easier to just show you.” he then held his hand before the teen, and waited for him to walk into it. That was a new 'trick' the human had to know. Cole did as he had learned, and walked into Megatron's hand, holding the thumb for a grip. “Now then, the reason.” and he walked out of the room. “You have noticed how Shockwave has been busy, correct?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

He looked forward, the corners of his mouth upturned in a pleased smile. “Well, human, _this_ is the reason why...” he then punched in a code to a rather large door, and it slid sideways from the middle. Strange, the doors usually went up. Cole blinked at the sudden light.

 

There was a huge, orange, metal 'U' in front of a platform. It was big, big enough to take up half of the room. In fact, it did. It even made Lugnut look downright puny! He was busy handing a large hunk of metal toward Blitzwing. This was all so confusing, but not nearly as much as Shockwave, standing well above everyone's heads. His legs had to have grown to a hundred feet, maybe more.

 

“You... need me for a Stargate?” what the hell was going on now?

 

“Blitzwing, weld the green and blue wires together. Lugnut, set that down and grab those red cables. No, you bumbling glitch, the red cables! Those are orange!” the antlered Con said loudly, pointing here and there.

 

The behemoth growled, swinging a crab claw upwards at the agent. “Do not yell at me for a job you should be doing, you slagging mechanical reindeer!” he then cracked the double agent in the back of the leg, knocking him off balance.

 

Shockwave windmilled for a bit, “Ah!” he shot out an arm, grabbing part of the orange frame. Blitzwing paused his work to look at the double agent, Icy's voice raised a bit in concern.

 

“Do you vant me to smack him, Shockwave?” Lugnut was starting to slow them down, and he wanted a break.

 

“No, now be quiet.” Shockwave said sharply. He looked down at Lugnut. “When _you_ can read and relay the inner workings of a space bridge teleport module, do let me know. But until you can, you will do as ordered, because knocking me into this blasted thing is _not_ going to make the job faster!” it was rare for him to snap, but when under stress – and he _was_ under stress – he could be quite mean.

 

His legs contracted, and he lowered down to his normal, slender self, quickly stomping toward a large computer as schematics flashed across the screen. “I'm a spy for Decepticon intelligence gathering, not an order shouting glitch watcher.” he grumbled in his typical British rasp, rubbing an antler. “I'll blow every diode in my mainframe at this rate.” He was punching the keys, optic flicking from image to image.

 

Megatron grinned. “Well now, Shockwave, it seems that you have this under control.” he wasn't being sarcastic about it. Had Shockwave lost control, Lugnut would be nothing but a very messy clean up job.

 

“Eh! Lord Megatron.” he was up and standing, and Blitzwing just about fell from his perch. Lugnut, the fanboy he was, was on his knees. Cole didn't understand him. He was the only one to do that when Megatron entered.

 

“Hey, Shockwave!” Cole said loudly. The cyclopean Con looked down, and stared in his usual way at the young male.

 

“Hello, Cole. What are you doing in here? It's not exactly safe for organics.” he was more asking Megatron than the human.

 

“It seems our little human wants to know the reason for his captivity,” the silver hellion said, holding the human up. “Care to explain?” Cole went airborne, squeaked, and was promptly caught by the teal and silver Decepticon. Primus, was he the only one to treat Cole gently?

 

“Of course-” he set the human on the desk, and pointed at the screen, and paused. “...you wouldn't happen to know how to read these schematics, would you?”

 

“Is the Pope female?” when Shockwave only chirruped at him, he answered. “No, Shockwave. Pope's aren't female. Dumb question.”

 

“Ah...” what was a Pope, anyway? “This is an intergalactic transport system that our kind have used for well over four dozen millennium, known as the spacebridge,” said Shockwave, not looking away from the computer. “You _have_ been keeping up with your Allspark readings, haven't you?” Shockwave asked, lifting his clawed hand to point at the human on the desk. When Cole nodded, the antlered bot nodded back, and pointed. “Not long ago, the Allspark was shattered on this planet. A fragment from it would be enough to power the spacebridge.”

 

Megatron looked down at Cole, optics half open. “The Autobots have fragments, which we need. That is where you come in, Cole.”

 

“Okay?” he still didn't get it.

 

Megatron smirked. So naive. “You are our hostage. When I see fit, we will show you to the Autobots, and organize a trade. You for the fragments.” he raised his eyebrows at the human. “Is that reason enough for you?”

 

The human sat still for a moment, staring hard at the silver Decepticon. “So, I'm for a swap, right?”

 

Shockwave nodded. “Exactly.”

 

Cole looked back and forth at them, and sighed. “Okay.” they were going to get rid of him at some point, then. He certainly didn't want to go back to the Autobots. He blinked as Megatron reached down to grab him. “Wait, why do you need the Spacebridge?” but Megatron's hand had already closed around him to take him out of the room. He twisted around as they left, and looked up at the silver and red hellion as they went back to the room he had to be in for the last few days.

 

He smirked at the blond. “That is a completely different question, and seeing that I answered the one you asked already, I think you need to hold up your end of the deal.” he was already back at his quarters, and had set Cole on the desk. “I don't have to tell you what I want.” he all but purred.

 

The human stared, dumbstruck and turning pink. “...hit it!” a deal was a deal, after all.

 

__**Hello hello, baby  
** You called, I can't hear a thing  
I have got no service in the club you see-see  
What-what-wha-a-at did you say, huh?  
Are you breaking up on me  
Sorry I cannot hear you, I'm kinda busy  
K-kinda busy  
K-kinda busy 

_**Sorry I cannot hear you, I'm kinda busy** _

 

**X**

 

Morning came like it always had, the sun rising up to find Prowl sprawled out on the gravel covered roof of the warehouse. He wasn't there for long, though. He was up and on the road soon enough. He had so much to talk about. He was going down the driveway, gravel flying by him.

 

Up ahead was a flatbed truck, going the opposite way. There was a blue tarp thrown over the large lump that he assumed was cargo, and chains over that to keep whatever was under it from slipping onto the road. His olfactory sensors went off, and his tank churned. He didn't want to think about it, but he could only guess that Champ was under that tarp.

 

The barn wasn't so dark, now that the sun was out. Admittedly, night on this planet made everything seem worse that it really was. Nell was outside the barn, brushing the palomino mare known as Lila. Her eyes were red, and it was clear she had been crying. Lila snorted as he approached, but she was back to her happy nature, flaring her nostrils for a nose rub. The woman looked up, giving a lopsided smile. “Hey.”

 

“Hello, Nell.” He frowned, voice quiet. He wasn't sure what to do now. Was it appropriate to call her a transsexual? Was he even allowed to talk about it? “Are you alright?”

 

She blinked, and tried to smile. “Y-yeah, Prowl, I'm fine.” she cleared her throat, heading into the barn. “I have to work Lila pretty soon. You're welcome to watch.” she was talking haltingly, like she was nervous. He looked at her hands, sure they were shaking. “So...” the woman looked at him, mouth crooked. “Did you and Sari talk about anything?”

 

Prowl nodded. “Yes. She told me about you.” and he really didn't care.

 

The woman looked away from him, and smiled. It was a sad smile. She chuckled quietly, “This... isn't even my real voice.” she looked up at him, and cleared her throat. “I try not to yell because it makes it harder to keep my voice the way I want it.” upon seeing Prowl cock his head, she laughed. She sounded like a man, and she knew it. “It can catch people off guard, so I watch it best I can. I'm human, though, so I slip up.” Nell swallowed a few times, and blinked shyly. “Does it... bother you that I'm this way?”

 

Prowl cocked his head the other way, then smiled. “It doesn't bother me, if it seems that way.”

 

“...right.” she looked somewhat embarrassed, but she did what she always did when she felt that way, and looked up at the rafters.

 

The ninja bot whirred, and looked at her. “I mean it. It does not bother me.” he smiled lightly. “But... we need to talk, Nell.”

 

“Uh... o-okay.”

 

“Nell, listen,” he said softly. The woman looked at him, nodding. Prowl took a moment to think it through, and got to his knees. At her level, things were easier. “When I first met you, you were open to me. You were always glad to see me. I had a place to be where I could see nature for what it was, and I had found someone to share it with. You're honest... and you're kind. You make others happy, and you stand up for yourself and those who matter to you.” He felt nervous. That was new. The ninja bot had to clasp his hands to his knees to hide the shaking in his hands.

 

“You showed me that even the lone wolf can find company, so to speak. Nell, I...” he took a moment, sighing to himself. It was just three words, but it took so much to say them to her. He whirred loudly, and said what he'd wanted to say for a long time. “...I love you.”

 

The woman blinked, raising her hand. She pointed at him, licking her lips. Her cheeks were bright red, and she was trying to hide it. “This is a joke, right? This is either a joke or you're really, really confused.” she said, turning away from him to stare at the rafters above. “Prowl, do you hear yourself right now?” she glanced over her shoulder at him. Was he being serious? He couldn't be.

 

A joke? She thought he was joking? “This is no joke, Nell. I do. I love you.” Primus, it was so much easier to say the second time.

 

“You can do better, you know. I don't know how it works for you back home, but what I am isn't exactly normal by human standards. I wish it weren't like that, but people suck,” she didn't want him to go through what Sari did. She was a woman now, but back then... what if people could tell now? What if... always what if. “Think about it. You, a robot, with a human, who has lied to you from the start. You hit your head, honey?” and he called her honest.

 

He was far from confused, he was dead set on setting this right. “No one can tell that you're trans-gender. I certainly can't. It's called 'reformatting' on Cybertron, and it's how I see you. You were reformatted, and nothing is wrong or disgusting about it.” nothing gave her past self away. Not her large hands or her square shoulders. She was a near flawless reformation from mech to femme. He didn't know an organic could make such a drastic change and come out the way she did. “Nell, Sari told me about trans-gender humans. It doesn't startle or worry me if that is what you think.”

 

She wheeled on him, mouth a flat line, back straightened. “You... you need to understand this, okay?” she ruffled her hair, groaning. Why couldn't he understand? She loved him, too, but that didn't make it work! “Do you think I want to leave this world knowing you'll live hundreds, hell, thousands of years after after I die? Why would you want that?!” her voice grew louder and deeper. Him being so stark raving calm was not helping.

 

His hands turned into fists. “What makes you think I haven't thought of that? I understand we wouldn't have much time, but we would do what we could with the time you have! Doesn't that mean anything?” the ninja bot yelled. The woman turned to him, confusion in her eyes. The corners of her mouth were turned down in a deep frown, seeming to be biting her lower lip. The ninja bot sighed, visor raised a bit in the center, “Nell, I love you, and that, in itself, makes it more than worth it.”

 

“You say that now, Prowl. Wait until I have a heart attack, or a stroke, then what?” she managed to say, lip red from biting. She walked steadily toward him, hands balled into tight, white knuckled fists. Prowl's visor flattened at the top, pulling himself back a bit as she came close. “If we were together, would things ever be the same if we don't work out? What then?” she was trying to get the words out, but she just ended up sounding angry.

 

Prowl whirred, keeping his voice low, leaning in close. His visor narrowed. “The what ifs don't matter to me. Should such a time come, we will face it then.” he hadn't meant to upset her. She blinked, mouth crooked. “I want you to be happy, Nell. It's your choice. It always has been.”

 

The woman looked at his gray face plate, trying to understand. 'Love' was give and take, not give and give. But that look he gave her, that look of sadness and hope... her heart ached. Nell sighed, watching him tilt his head. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to think of something. Prowl had said he wanted her to be happy? His shy honesty made her happy. His 'need' to make her happy made her happy. He, who he was, made her happy. “... I... I would like some proof that this is really happening.”

 

He beeped, visor widening at her. Proof? What kind of proof? “What ever you want, Nell. What ever it is, I'll do.” he sat still, back against the wall.

 

Nell's frown faded into a nervous smile. Prowl chirruped at her, mouth opening. She made her way into his lap, hands on his chest plate, taking in the slowly increasing pulse of his spark. His arms went behind her to keep her from sliding off. Nell had her knees on his thighs, putting one arm behind his head, cupping where his helm met his neck. Prowl sighed, being able to touch her. _Really_ touch her.

 

“Nell,” he began, but he felt her hips press against the lowest part of his chest plate. She used her free hand to rub under his chin. She was exploring him, or, more his face than anything. He stayed still, feeling her hand move upward. She was so warm and careful. It was strange to have someone that fragile be so gentle. He was the one who had to be careful, not her.

 

Nell had wanted to do this for a while now. She loved Prowl, she really did. He didn't seem to care that she was trans-gender. She didn't think it would matter so much, but it did. It mattered so much coming from him. Her hand moved up, rubbing where the black met the gray. His face was hot, and his cheeks were dark. The thought of her ninja bot being embarrassed made her smile widen. She reached her hand up, stroking the darkened metal with her palm. She felt him press into her hand, and her mouth twitched.

 

The woman straightened, feeling his hands just behind her. She leaned back into them, putting her hands on either side of his helm. Nell blinked at him, hoping that as she looked at his visor, she was making eye contact. Nell leaned up, guiding his head down. She swallowed, and pressed her mouth against his, opening her own a little. Nell covered his lower lip, running her tongue over his top one. She hoped robots knew how to kiss.

 

After a few seconds of shock, Prowl came to his senses. This was really happening. Nell was kissing him. Prowl, unsure of what to do, opened his mouth a bit, and felt something hot and wet enter his mouth. Nell's tongue. He hadn't expected that. The bot swirled his glossa over her teeth and under her tongue carefully, enjoying the heat and her breath.

 

She had her arms around his neck, her mouth wide. Nell probed his teeth with her tongue. They felt like porcelain to her, pale gray in color. She knew Prowl had 'fangs', but they were small, and not very sharp. The woman moaned into his mouth, his hands holding her up. His left hand rubbed her side from ribs to hip. Nell pressed into his hand, groaning. Her arms slipped down to his thrusters, fingers skimming where they met his shoulders.

 

Prowl pulled back a bit, cutting the kiss short. She blinked, letting her hands rest on his chest plate, feeling the pulsating thrum of his spark. The ninja bot pulled her close, pressing his audio to her neck. He could hear her pulse, wonderful and clear.

 

“I love you, too,” Nell mumbled. He smiled widely at her, letting out a throaty purr. The dark bot pulled back, kissing her forehead. She blushed, but she didn't hide it anymore. He hid his nose in her hair, smelling her. He loved her scent. He loved her, this human female. It didn't matter that she had been a male. Prowl loved Nell, whatever she was or wanted to be.

 

“Is this what you want, Nell?” she looked confused. “I think you know by now that I want to be more than your friend,” he said quietly, still a bit nervous.

 

“At this rate... I can't go back to being friends.” she said, blushing.

 

He could have flown to Cybertron and back at that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. You're still here? Hello. Pull up before the fire dies out completely.


	38. Discuss

Chapter Thirty Eight: Discuss

 

_The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. ~Albert Einstein_

 

**X**

 

For one reason or another, Megatron had found himself in the odd habit of watching Cole. He didn't know why, but he wanted to know what Cole was doing. Not just when reading the sacred writings, but when doing anything. Watching Cole sleep was interesting, even though it wasn't very interactive. He didn't rightly know why it was something he liked, or how he came to do it, but it was.

 

It was the only time the little meatball was quiet, for one. It was also the only time he could really observe the human. Cole didn't ask what he was doing when asleep. Cole didn't move when sleeping, either. He didn't squirm under his gaze. He didn't seize up and act like he didn't notice the stare. Pit, he rarely spoke to Megatron, really, except to ask how he was doing, did he rest well, what time was it... basic things. It might have had something to do with knowing what the plan for him was. There was also the occasional question concerning the sacred writings.

 

Note taking was big with Cole, he noticed. He was almost always taking notes with an over sized stylus. Everything was too big for the young human. It was rather comical. Once, he had tried to stand up with a data pad and a stylus. He toppled himself into the hammock, then blushed – that was when humans turned red – then stumbled upwards. “Ow...” was all he said, before Megatron's thundering laugh filled the room. That only made Cole turn a darker shade of red. “Oh, right, like you've never fallen over.” _that_ only made him laugh harder at the little male.

 

Now, Cole was asleep, chest rising and falling in a steady, shallow rhythm. If he watched hard enough, he could see his heartbeat, also steady. He smirked at the little sign of life. “Hmm...” he had felt Cole's pulse numerous times. Picking him up, moving him around, keeping him on the desk when he would dance. There was much to learn about humans. Not much of it useful, per se, but why not observe when he could? He couldn't say he was attached to the little meatball... “Shockwave, location?” but he _could_ say he wanted to keep him.

 

“ _At the helm of the space bridge construction, my liege.”_

 

Good. “Send Blitzwing and Lugnut on break. We need to discuss something of the utmost importance.” he was already leaving the room, the human staying asleep.

 

“ _As you wish.”_ The Decepticon Overlord took his time to get to the main room. He wanted to discuss this with Shockwave and only Shockwave. He could trust the spy.

 

He entered the room, Shockwave with his back to him. “I have been thinking of our little hostage,” he stood beside Shockwave, glancing at the many schematics that consumed the screen.

 

“What of him, if I may ask, my lord?” he still didn't look up. That would normally get one's helm blown off, but he knew Megatron better than most. He was in a good mood... he hoped.

 

“There is no reason to keep the human after he has fulfilled his purpose.” he cocked an eyebrow

 

Shockwave paused, only for a klick, just one klick, but it gave away too much. He was back to typing, optic flicking to separate parts of the screen, not looking at his leader. “True. He is but a human. Nothing says he has to be surrendered to the Autobots, though.” tread carefully, and Cole might live. He himself might make it out of the room with all his parts intact and functioning. Assumptions were a luxury he couldn't afford.

 

Megatron smirked at the antlered Con. “Is there any particular reason that you believe we should keep him?” he had his own reasons, naturally. Humans were rather interesting, even though they were inferior.

 

The double agent shuttered his optic. There were _reasons_ , of course, but whether or not they were _valid_ would be up to his leader. “...Blitzwing has become a bit more stable. The average for his face changes has risen by about six klicks.” Blitzwing could keep a face for about six minutes before he felt the compulsion to change. Since Cole had been brought in, it was now six minutes and six seconds. An improvement, as minor as it was. “Lugnut has quieted, if only when he remembers. He doesn't like the human, but he leaves him be.” thank Primus he left him alone. The behemoth wasn't exactly careful.

 

“Not to mention, your little issues with straightening everything in sight is doing far better.” Shockwave had always been a compulsive organizer. It made for him to be incredible when it came to taking information down, but not when an object was crooked or... anything was off kilter. The stack of data pads next to Shockwave had been askew since before he had come inside, and the Con hadn't done anything about it. Things like that usually sent him into a well controlled frenzy of straightening. Upon that little notification, he straightened the pads, and went back to work.

 

Shockwave continued. “Cole has offered a distraction for me. He has seen my need to straighten things. I've put thought into giving him a hair cut. It is down to his shoulders, and it's unsanitary for it to grow too long. Cole knows a card game called find the ace that is very entertaining.” the goal was to find the ace from the three cards presented. It was a con game, and Cole was quite good at it. Shockwave had yet to find the ace, and it was fun. A simple card trick was fun. He was rather pleased that he had given Cole a deck to play with.

 

Megatron smirked, “Cole is also an interesting dancer. By far not the best I have seen, but he most certainly tries to. He is also a concerned little creature.” Megatron did have his days when he felt like blowing some incompetent fool's head off. Whenever Cole saw him that way, he would ask what was wrong. Few did that. “I have had you do things to Cole, and he knows this. But he still shows concern for us both.” Humans were an interesting race indeed.

 

The silver hellion sat, legs crossed, in a spare chair, optics boring into Shockwave. “But that is not what I am speaking of.” he spoke slowly, before leaning in closer, quirking an eyebrow. “I am speaking of _wanting_ to _keep_ the human.” there was no logic behind him wanting to keep Cole, but it was what he wanted, and Megatron got what he wanted, one way or another. “Wanting the human is completely illogical.” there was nothing wrong with wanting confirmation on this odd matter, though. What did his most trusted spy think of all this?

 

Shockwave thought about it, and paused, claws hovering just over the keys. “Emotions rarely are.”

 

The silver hellion leaned closer, practically purring into Shockwave's audio. “If I do this, what would you say to staying his main caretaker?” left in anyone else's hands, the blond would be dead in a week! Shockwave had been the logical choice then, and he was still that now.

 

Shockwave turned, optic locked on his leader. “My lord, if you decide it, I will do as you command.” Cole gave them a closer look at how organics work... he still had to figure out that card trick, after all!

 

“Then it's settled.” Megatron said, smiling as he stood. An actual, though twisted smile, one that showed his fangs, made his optics glow deep red. “Will be keeping the human.” the silver and red Con headed for the door, before glancing over a shoulder, “but keep this between you and I for now.”

 

“As you wish, lord Megatron.” Shockwave said. This was good. Blitzwing would get to keep a human companion – w _ith_ supervision – and Megatron was certainly into keeping the human around. As his commander left his sight, Shockwave could have smirked had he a mouth. “As you wish.”

 

**X**

 

Mornings were almost always quiet in the base. Optimus had the habit of waking up before everyone else, but he normally lay there for a while, just thinking. Talking in the morning was a rare thing for Sari and Optimus, but it happened. Sometimes it was a philosophy talk, about life and the universe, but most o the time it was just a bunch of silliness. This was one of those mornings where everything was quiet, and the world didn't exist outside the four walls.

 

It was rare, and it was awesome.

 

The red haired techno-teen blinked. “Hey... there's something I wanna ask you.” Sari's voice was small in the large room, but Optimus could hear her. He could hear her fine.

 

The red and blue Prime was still half awake, optics relaxed. “What is it?” he was on his left side, using his arm as a pillow. Sari lay there, watching him, smiling a little. His left arm was draped over his torso, fingers curled to touch his stomach plating.

 

“Why do you guys have blue optics? Like... did the Autobots come first or the Decepticons?” she blinked, and rolled onto her stomach. “Why blue optics, anyway?”

 

Optimus was never one to pass up a history lesson. “From what I know about Cybertronian history, the Autobots were the ones that came first. The Decepticons didn't arrive until Megatron.” it was an uprising of the lower class. Miners, cleaners, bots who did the hard work and didn't get enough thanks. The lower class needed a leader. “The lower class rose up, and he lead the way.” Megatron had been a gladiator, as it was known. He fought to please the upper class, before he had enough and attacked those he had entertained.

 

“Okay, so... were optics always blue?” she cocked her head, further mussing her red hair. “Like, blue was the original? Or were there all different colors?”

 

He smiled. “I'm pretty sure they were blue... we can look into it later.” he blinked. Good questions. “Actually, blue optics amplify the color red. It helps us see Decepticons.” he smirked at her curious gaze. “I figure it works that way for them, too. Red amplifies Blue.” he really didn't know for the Decepticons. He could only guess. It might have just been for opposing sides to tell each other apart.

 

“So, what does Purple do?” she asked, smiling. She still had such childlike curiosity, and he loved it.

 

He chuckled. “I wouldn't know. I've never had purple optics.”

 

Sari giggled. “Does that mean you had red optics?” she winked at him. “You bad boy.”

 

“No? ...oh! Heh, no.” well, that was odd. “Your eyes used to be red...” he carefully ruffled her hair with a fingertip. “but blue suits you better.”

 

“Oh?” the techno-teen asked, batting her eyes in a goofy manner. Few things were as fun as confusing her bot. He was her bot, no question of that.

 

“Yeah, they really do...” he meant it. She had been cute when they were red... but it didn't feel right. Humans, he soon learned, didn't have red eyes. Then the whole fiasco with Megatron those years ago, when her arm had ripped open. That scared him. It scared him because he couldn't believe it was real, and that he, nor anyone, had a clue what lie beneath her skin. She wore her technological half proudly, her arm exposing the raw power that skin used to cover.

 

“What are you thinking about?” some days, she didn't know what he was thinking. He was never the mysterious kind of guy, but he sure was quiet. Quiet meant thought.

 

“You.” he said, giving her a careful kiss on the forehead. He was always gentle with her. Techno-organic or not, she was still too easy to harm. She giggled, blushed, grinned. Sari scooted closer, rolling over to put her back to his chest plate, looking up at him.

 

The two stared at each other for a bit. A pause. Quiet. A car driving by.

 

“Ten more minutes?” he asked.

 

“Sure.” like she could say no. The techno-teen giggled, and nuzzled his neck. “I like this, Optimus.”

 

He closed his optics, smiling. “Same here.”

 

**X**

 

“Alright, boys, show me formation beta four again.” Jazz said, smiling in the sun. Early time on earth was a wonderful. They didn't have sunrises on Cybertron. They didn't even have a sun. But here, on this funny, little blue planet, that giant fireball came up every day, and went down every night. The sun, the source of life for organics. The Twins had said before that there was nothing like the sun on one's wings. Jazz didn't have wings, but he could enjoy it. It made him feel alive.

 

“Yes sir, Mister Jazz!” and the twins did as he instructed. This one was a harder move for the two, but they were getting the hang of it. Handsprings were easy, but to push off of each other mid jump was harder. They had done it twice already, but there was a slip up somewhere in the push. That was why they were out. Jetfire and Jetstorm were eager to try a new battle tactic, and this one was fun and at their level of training. Jazz loved to teach, they were eager to learn, and they could probably use someone who didn't scream at them all the time.

 

To say Sentinel abused them was right, and it didn't do much for the two seekers. Young, sweet, impressionable. On the third time they did the push off, it sent Jetfire spiraling to the ground with a thud and a puff of dirt. “Oof!” the orange twin rolled on his back, frowning. “Am still messing up, brother!”

 

The blue twin landed, hurrying over to his fallen brother. “Is not being your fault! We're not knowing how is done.” he said, crouching.

 

“Doubting we will get it ever, brother.” Jetfire mumbled, sitting up.

 

“Aw, don't be like that, kiddo.” Jazz said, arms crossed. He didn't like seeing either of them so down. No one got to be sad for too long with him around.

 

“C'mon, Jetfire. I ain't mad at you. Not mad at your bro, either.” the blue twin helped the orange twin to his feet, and the white ninja smiled. “See boys? You're getting better. I ain't looking for perfection on your first try.”

 

Jetfire blinked, optics wide. “But is being _third_ try!” he wasn't happy with letting Jazz down. At least _he_ didn't scream at them, but it wasn't fun to let the nice bot down.

 

Jetstorm was still holding Jetfire's hand. “And Sentinel Prime was telling us-”

 

“Sentinel ain't a problem for you two anymore,” Jazz said, giving a sad smile. “Don't tell me you two are gonna give up that easy?” gentle teasing lead to smiling from the two. How could anyone be mad at them?

 

Just when he was getting the two to lighten up, his internal alarm pinged. Feeding time.

 

Jazz frowned. Great. “You two do some practicing on beta four. I gotta deal with Sentinel.” he didn't mind dealing with the unstable bot. He hadn't been out of the cell since the last time Nellie had been there. Ultra Magnus had chosen him for the job of taking care of the twins, but also for dealings with Sentinel Prime. “See you in a bit. Don't give up. That's an order, dig?”

 

The two gave him a salute, giving him a double grin. “Yes sir, mister Jazz!” they always saluted in unison. They always called him 'Mister Jazz', which he thought was pretty cool, if odd. The two liked him, they followed him like a big brother. He sure was liking the role. What he didn't enjoy was what he had been assigned to do a few days ago.

 

The reason Ultra Magnus had chosen Jazz to do this task was because he could keep a cool head. Blurr had offered to do it, but not before a stream of angry, rapid fire insults were rattled off in front of them all. There were certain things the Twins didn't need to hear about their past commander. There was also the fact that he was protective of the human Nell. How often did he mention that he owed her his life?

 

The speedy agent was too close to Nell, and that wasn't good. Sentinel might press Blurr's buttons, and they didn't want a fist fight in the cell block. Jazz knew Nellie, but his buttons were practically unpressable.

 

Jazz walked down the corridor, cube in hand. He knocked twice on the door. Another rule for this situation. Knock, and Sentinel had to stay away from the door. If he wasn't away from it when it opened, Jazz had full rights to use force to make him comply.

 

He didn't like this, but what else could be done? The door opened, and Jazz set the cube on the floor, taking the empty one. That was it. Get in, give it, clean up, and get out.

 

Sentinel lifted his head from the corner, showing that he was, indeed, awake. He didn't get up from the sad excuse for a berth, though. He stared at the white ninja bot, intact optic normal Autobot blue. “You're late.” like he knew the time. He just wanted to press that ninja bot. The blue Prime had hoped Jazz would see it his way, but no. This filthy planet and its stupid meat bags had ruined everything. “If you knew what I know about organics, you'd be stuck here with me.”

 

Jazz didn't turn around. He wasn't going to discuss something like this with a crazy bot. The sooner they got home, the better.

 

The door to the cell closed, and Sentinel Prime was left alone again. He didn't touch the cube, but he smiled. He had gotten a good look at the door's locking mechanism. It wasn't that hard to figure out. Just wait. Just wait until it was time. He'd know when he could fix this glitch. He knew how it worked.

 

He knew.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cole the bartering chip. Chin the madmech.


	39. Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is loose on Earth.

_Chapter thirty-nine: Trying_

 

_When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." ~ Author Unknown_

 

**X**

 

Peace, if it could be called that, had settled within the stone walls of the Decepticon base. Megatron was back to speech writing, as it was high time he gave one. His troops across the universe had to know he was getting closer to joining them. The space bridge was near complete, all it needed was a power source.

 

Then, during one of those times that Cole would read the Allspark writings and scribble down notes, it happened.

 

“Dammit!” there was a clatter, and a thump. Megatron grunted, and turned to face the tank, just in time to see Cole hurl something across it. It, whatever it was, landed with a tinkling, then a light thud. “I can't believe it... it's happened again.”

 

“What is?” Megatron had no idea what had happened. Cole was never this loud. He didn't say anything. He just stood still, staring into nothing and panting, horrified. “Answer me.” But the human ignored him, staring at the scattered data pads that had been stacked on the floor.

 

Cole's gray gaze flicked to Megatron sharply. His voice shook and cracked as he spoke. His whole body trembled as he raised his hands to his face. “It's all a big lie! It's a _complete and utter fucking lie!_ ” he yelled, slamming his fists into the back wall. The blond sank to the floor, legs crumpling under him. “Not again... please not again.” he covered his left eye, staring numbly at the overturned data pads.

 

Megatron, was no closer to an answer. He stood, and stepped toward the tank. He was going to glare down at the human, scare him into giving him an answer, when he saw his answer. The necklace he had seen the human mumble at so many times before was thrown into a corner, abandoned. That was the one thing Cole never took off. His shirt came off when he would dance, but the rosary would stay on. He knew what the piece of jewelry meant. “ _What_ is a lie, human?”

 

“All of it! Read it! Read it!” he yelled, slamming an open palm into his forehead. “It doesn't make sense!” he growled, talking through his teeth. “It says one thing about Unicron being a sparkless beast, then another part says he loved his brother, then there's Primus being a planet, and trapped and not trapped...” the blond grabbed his head, curling into himself. “It's just like before, none of this makes sense...” the bible did the same thing to him. He couldn't handle this a second time!

 

Oh, so  _that's_ what happened. “So, you found a few flaws in a holy work. It happens to most of us when we read it on our own, of course.” this... he did not like this. Cole wasn't just upset, he was bereft, a crushed, half sobbing mess... and Megatron did  _not_ like this. Odd, he usually enjoyed seeing others in agony. Not the human, though. For some reason, it didn't set right with him anymore. This was his goal in the beginning, to shatter the humans spirit, but now the goal had changed. A broken human was not what he wanted anymore. “Some cover it up and continue on when flaws come to light, blind and stupid and saying it is perfect. Others turn away completely, taking it as a way that they were controlled. But you... well I expected  _more_ from you.” he really had. 

 

The blond gave the silver Decepticon a blank stare. What, he was an expert on this kind of thing now? He knew what he was going through with this? Bullshit, Megatron didn't know what it was like for him. Why couldn't he just leave him alone? He didn't really care. Megatron didn't give a flying fuck about him, and he knew it. Still, if that were the case, why would he bother to ask what was wrong?

 

“After all, you have been here, underground, away from the sun with a few, powerful Decepticons, the very same that have thrown you through loops and the like since you were brought here, for several months. And yet, you are giving up because of a few _flaws_ in a _book?”_ The silver hellion bent down to look at the human, really look at him. The tank was between them, but Cole could hear him fine. He knew that, which was why he lowered his voice. “Now here I thought you were a smart blond.” he was talking to a scarred and angry youngling, not a hardened soldier. He had to remember that.

 

The blond grunted, and covered his eyes. He didn't want to cry in front of Megatron. He didn't want to cry in front of  _anyone_ . Let the robot talk if he wanted to. He just wanted to be left alone. 

 

For the first time on many years, Megatron's faceplate softened, if just a little. He only did it for the human, and even then, he'd never admit it. “All feel lost at times. Even those of us who shouldn't be bothered with such things as Primus and his teachings. You can act like a child, giving in without a fight. You can give up and stay lost, like a fool, with an unfinished book...” he smiled at Cole as he looked up. For the first time, Cole made eye contact without fear of him. Bright gray met dark red, and it was, in some way, worth it. “Or, you can do the better thing for yourself, and keep reading. Who knows. The ending may have the answers you seek.” the Decepticon purred as Cole lifted his head. They were face to face, and it felt... right. Vague, a little tingly, but right. “You can do that, can't you, Cole?”

 

Cole blinked, rubbing an eye. That made sense. He wasn't done with the writings. He hadn't given up on the bible when he found all those twists and turns that ran him into a wall. “...you're right, Megatron. Just because it's not perfect doesn't mean it's a lie.”

 

The silver hellion grinned, showing his fangs to the young human. “Exactly.” crisis averted. He leaned back as Cole stumbled upwards, gathering the data pads to put them back in a pile. Megatron made a decision then to keep his little outburst between them. It didn't matter that others knew about it, but they didn't have to know. It was of no consequence to not bring it up.

 

Cole looked in a corner, and carefully scooped up the rosary. He looked at the necklace, frowning softly at the blue beads, thumb tracing the crucifix that had sat over his heart for years. “...I'm sorry.” he then placed it back over his head, and it settled under his shirt, the cold beads growing warm with his heat yet again. “Uh... Lord Megatron...”

 

The silver hellion turned, optics narrowed in question.

 

Cole shuffled a little. He wasn't used to this. He just hoped he wasn't blushing. “...could I... uh, dance or something?” okay, now he was sure he was blushing. Megatron had turned, and blinked. A second later, he was in Megatron's hand, and was walked to the desk like so many times before. He watched the silver giant, and felt... sort of content. Megatron had made him feel better... he might as well try and return the favor. The music started up.

 

__**I'm your biggest fan  
** I'll follow you until you love me  
Papa, paparazzi  
Baby there's no other superstar  
You know that I'll be  
Your papa, paparazzi 

 

More Lady Gaga? He got the feeling that Blitzwing liked the crazy woman from twenty-ten and beyond, but this was all he danced to anymore. Oh man, if Megatron was a Lady Gaga fan, he'd have a stroke! Okay, stroke later, dance now. Off came the shirt, and he was back to grinding at the air and flipping his too-long hair over his head.

 

__**Promise I'll be kind  
** But I won't stop until that boy is mine  
Baby you'll be famous  
Chase you down until you love me  
Papa, paparazzi 

 

**X**

 

Prowl had never had a real interest in horse racing. He saw it as a way of exploiting beautiful creatures for the sake of entertainment. He was interested in the training process, though, and Nell had been eager to show Prowl how it worked.

 

Nell had her hair back in a pony tail, and was leading Rosanna. Prowl stood by the four horse starting gate, looking down at her. “Why do you have Rosanna, Nell?”

 

Nell smiled and the dappled mustang strutted into her stall. “She's sort of the pacer. Shylock's not fast enough, and I can't use Brandy or Casio.” Champ could have done it, but... she blinked, and went to grab the palomino. “C'mere, you.”

 

Lila was a big female, Prowl noticed. Maybe it was just because Nell was small. Small, warm, lovely... focus on the horses. He was watching them, not her. Still, her outfit was a little distracting. “I have to ask, Nell, why the strange clothes?” she _never_ wore tight clothing. He realized, looking at her now, that her hips were rather narrow. The ninja bot understood human body types enough to know Nell needed to gain weight. “You should eat more.” he said, crossing his arms.

 

The woman stopped, the mare tugging her head. She wanted to run, not stand around! Nell grinned at her bot. “These are typical jockey clothes. Nothing fancy, just the basic stuff.” Nell did not like the clothing, but she wanted the horses she trained for racing to be as close to the real thing as possible. “Look who's talking. You're like a beanpole!” she meant it. He was telling _her_ to gain weight?

 

He followed her, shrugging. “I was built this way. Ninja's have to be on the thin side. You, however...” he stopped himself, watching Nell mount the horse. Lila all but galloped tot he loading gate, eyes huge and swishing her head. Prowl walked a little faster to keep up. “I've never seen you eat anything, Nell.” she had to eat. Humans needed to in order to function.

 

The woman tugged tugged the reigns, the mare slowing. “Easy, spazz, You'll get your turn.” the short human said to the beast beneath her hips. Lila bayed, swinging her head hard, pulling Nell forward. “Cut it out, Lila!” the woman yelled, and the mare stopped, head held high. “Think you can get away with that crap in the big time, you little spazz?” she knew that horses didn't know what she was saying, but they knew tone. No fooling around. “Sorry, she's just excited...” she didn't know how to answer his question. “I eat when I remember.”

 

“Nell...” the dark bot groaned. She had to take better care of herself. He was going to make sure of that. Now that they were together, he wanted her to be healthy.

 

“Alright, alright.” the woman said, turning the mare in a circle before taking her to the track. The mare snorted, happily stepping into the open loading stall. Nell leaned back, closing the gate. “Okay, normally I do this with a remote, but since you're here, you can help out. See that red button by the gate? Just hit that when I tell you.”

 

He nodded. Easy.

 

A minute or so of silence followed, and Nell adjusted herself. She leaned forward, and grinned. “Okay love, hit the button!”

 

“...love?” he mumbled to himself. “Uh, alright.” he carefully tapped the button with a fingertip. A bell went off, and the two horses flew out of the gate, Lila stretching her neck and kicking clay behind her, Rosanna just a bit ahead of her.

 

Nell raised her butt into the air, just like a jockey would, Lila thundering across the dirt to catch up to Rosanna. Prowl watched, smiling. The look on her face was intense, focused, the face of a racer. The face of a fighter. Lila pulled ahead, Rosanna trying to get to the end of the track before the heavier mare. “C'mon, ya! Ya!” Nell yelled, pressing her heels into the mare's soft belly. Lila huffed and puffed, head and shoulders ahead of the mustang.

 

Prowl smirked, and went to the end of the track, hardly above a jog. Lila crossed the finish line just before he did, Rosanna taking up the rear. “Well done!” he was impressed, with both the horses and Nell. She gave him a thumbs up, and let Lila walk around, the mare's flanks dark with sweat, eyes wide from the run. “I am curious, though; don't jockey's usually use something called a crop?” it was one of the main reasons he didn't watch horse racing. To think that people would hit a creature to make win a game upset him.

 

“I don't like using crops. Lila hates them, too. I used one on her once, she threw me! Her jockey will have to know that ahead of time.” she said, still walking Lila in a big circle to cool her own. Rosanna snorted, and threw her head back, tossing her mane. She was a show off, Prowl had learned, and would prance whenever someone was watching. At least she did when he was watching. Nell dismounted Lila, and walked her to a water troth. “Rosanna! Here!” the mustang took one look at Nell, and whinnied, going the other way. “You little... don't ignore me, I'm the feeder person!”

 

Prowl chirruped, and looked at the stubborn horse. “Hmm...” he held a hand to his mouth, and called out. “Rosanna. Here.” the mustang lifted her head, and ran to the bot, kicking her back legs in a playful way. She flipped her mane and pranced at him, just as she always did. “Good girl.” the ninja bot told her, carefully petting her neck.

 

“Well, looks like you made a friend.” Nell said, grinning. “She won't come for me.” the woman grabbed the horse's bridle, leading her to the troth to drink. Lila lifted her head, sniffing Rosanna. The two touched noses, Lila snorting at her racing companion. “Aw.”

 

With a quiet clicking of gears and hydraulics, Prowl was at her level. He waited for her to turn, and he grabbed her, kissing her forehead and standing, taking her with him.

 

“Prowl, I'm all sweaty!” she said, giggling.

 

“Well, _I_ am covered in dust... love.” that word, that one little word that made him confused a while ago, was making his mate blush and giggle. “ _I_ don't mind if _you_ don't mind.” he said shyly, before Nell came forward and kissed him on the mouth.

 

Oh, he liked pet names. If they did this to Nell, how could he not? An internal beep told him he had a comm message, and he pressed a hand to his head. “Prowl here.” the woman cocked her head, putting an arm around his neck. He had a good grip; she probably wanted to hug him. He looked at her, placing his arm behind her again. “I just received a message from Optimus,” he said, smiling a little. “The Elite Guard are leaving today.”

 

Nell blinked. “Really?”

 

He nodded. “Yes. They haven't detected any Decepticon activity, and Ratchet advised them it was best to take Sentinel back to Cybertron.”

 

She smiled at him, taking out her ponytail. “Well, good.” maybe that lunatic could get some help. She knew from her mother that no one deserved to be crazy. “Come on, lets set the girls up again.”

 

He chirruped, visor shifting. “Again?”

 

“Yup, by the time we get them loaded again, they'll be ready for another r-” she was cut off by Prowl pecking her mouth. “...or we can wait a few minutes. Whatever's good for you.”

 

The ninja bot chuckled. “I don't see why not, love.”

 

**X**

 

Once again, much to her dismay, Sarah awoke to floating in the air, the gravity malfunctioning yet again. “Oh, come on.” she mumbled. The female clamored towards the tank top, and crawled over. She barely fit through the gap between it and the ceiling. “Gah, whoa.” she floated along the ceiling, before kicking off and breast stroking – horribly – toward the floor. Or, she would have, had a familiar magenta seeker not been in front of her. How did he do that? What was he, a wraith? “Starscream.”

 

Hearing his name being called, the seeker turned, breaking into a smile. “Oh, look at this!” said the seeker happily, leaning back to float sideways. “An angel on my humble ship?” he grinned at her as she turned red. He found it adorable when Sarah changed colors! “What brings you here, may I ask?”

 

The human flailed, trying to get to the seeker below her. “The gravity is screwy again.” she wiggled, and tried to get to his cockpit.

 

“Ah, that,” he smirked cockily and sat up, dodging her. “I have a reason for that, my dear.”

 

The female snorted floating upwards with a few strokes of her arms. “Okay, _what_ reason?

 

“I want you to practice, Sarah.” he said, snagging her shirt to anchor her nearby.

 

“Practice what?” she asked. She was starting to get tired.

 

“Being an angel, of course,” he said, giving her the slightest of shoves. She windmilled to get back to him, but he shifted upwards to float above her, showing his fangs. “I want you to catch me. Eh... no, that's not it,” he mumbled, hand to his chin. He spun a bit, then looked over at her. “Catch up. That's the word. I want you to catch up with me.”

 

“What? I don't know if you knew this, but you're frigging' speedy!”

 

“Oh, I know. But-” he pushed off of the floor, slowly floating to rest in a corner about halfway up the wall. “-I plan to be right here. I want to watch you, in all your lovely motions...” he just about cackled at her. She was so shy! “I don't have all day, my dear.” he did, but he wanted her to do this now. _Right_ now.

 

“Fine...” Sarah took a few breaths, and leaned forward. She remembered what he had told her about moving the first time this happened. Legs to move, arms to steer. She leaned, and kicked her legs. The human was moving, but not fast enough.

 

“Oh, come on! You're tired already?” he teased. Her temper had gotten her to do things before. Yelling at him, getting away from those sickos in the canyon, getting him to stop... he chirruped. “Are you giving up?”

 

“Bite me!” she half laughed, half yelled. She pumped her legs hard, and wound up by his abdominal plating. Frowning, she climbed his stomach, used him to push off, and soon, she was floating by his head, crossing her arms. “Happy, you screwed up Casanova?” his grin told her he was. Then, a thought. “Starscream, are you ever going to repaint this place?” she asked, floating at his shoulder.

 

He blinked. “Repaint th- oh yes!” he had almost forgotten his little excuse from months ago. “That was a lie. I wanted to know what color you liked.” Sarah crossed her arms, frowning. “Clever of me, don't you think?”

 

“You already know my favorite color, Starscream.” she kicked her legs to float upside down, hair going every direction. “Why'd you lie, anyway? What are you planning to do?”

 

He looked away, grinning. “Well... that's something special.”

 

The female, getting used to floating around, rolled and kicked her way to his front. “Come on, what are you planning?” she was a foot from his face, and had no intention of moving.

 

He chuckled. “Flattery will get you nowhere on this little thing, my dear.” he reached out to grab her. “You'll see it when I'm done. I hope it suits you.” he paused in mid reach. “No, I know it will suit you. I'm who made it, after all.”

 

The human rolled her eyes, happy in the warmth of his hand. “Well, what is it? Can I get a hint?”

 

The seeker could only smirk. “Oh, you'll see.” he purred, stroking her hair.

 

**X**

 

He knew the ship was starting up. He could feel it in the cell. Now was the time to get ready. He had to be ready, or he would never fix this. Sentinel Prime was in the corner, as always, but he had turned his back to the door, and was on his side. Feign recharge, wait for the cube drop off. The door opened, Jazz said nothing, set the cube down, left the room.

 

Wait, wait, wait...

 

 _Now!_ Sentinel heard the door start to close, and leaped up, jamming something into the lock. Hearing no click, and no footsteps returning to the door, he chuckled, intact optic flickering hot white. He was glad that medibot had replaced his optic patch. It was perfect for jamming the door. It hurt like the pit, but this was more important. The glitch in the system had to be taken care of, _now_. “Okay, there's phase one down,” he muttered, taking the cube and chugging it. He'd need it for phase two... and three. He'd need the energy, and the cube.

 

The blue bot set the cube down, and stepped on it, breaking it into splinters. He got down on his knees, and poked around the remnants of the cube, picking up a rather large shard. “Here's two...” he muttered, grabbing his helm and pulling it down. He needed to do this right, or he could rupture a coolant line. “Where are you... come on.” there it was! With a quick jab under the thing he was digging for, he found it, and began making tiny, sawing motions. The bot numbed his pain receptors, and continued. He was halfway through, when the ship lifted off the ground.

 

“No!” he yelled. He had to hurry. He grabbed the little device, and tugged hard, ripping it out. It blinked, still active. He set the little device in the corner, looking at his hand. He was leaking, but only a little. He licked his hand, and went to the door. He slipped the patch upward, and the door opened. He ducked out, and looked around. No Jazz, no Twins, no anybody. Good.

 

Heading for the back loading door, he stopped, and reached down along the wall. He was prepared, always prepared. He had hidden weapon on different parts of the ship. No one knew but him. There were traitors everywhere. He had a lance stored down here, just in case. This was a just in case time. He pried a panel off the wall, and reached inside, digging in the wiring to find the lance. He grabbed it, and ran for the loading door. He punched in a code, and the door opened. The ground was far below him, but the were out of the city.

 

“Three.” he mumbled, and jumped, plummeting to the ground in a free fall. He landed just by a field, taking out a few trees. He had jammed his sensory circuits on the landing. After a while, he didn't know for sure, he was awake. It had been light out when he landed, but now, it was getting dark. “Three.” he muttered, and got to his feet. His spare lance was still in his hand, the handle bent from his grip.

 

“Phase four.” he grinned, and ran into the trees. He didn't know where he was, but he could figure it out. No one would know he was out until after he had fixed this. Fix the glitch, and everything would be back to normal. He giggled, really, a bit giddy, and completely berserk. Everything would be back to normal as soon as he fixed the glitch. He couldn't wait!

 

It would all be over soon.

 


	40. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody's there. Shockwave cuts hair.

Chapter Forty: Fight

 

_It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. ~ Mark Twain._

 

**X**

 

“So, who's this guy, Swindle?” Cole asked as another lock of hair fell on the towel. Shockwave was giving him a haircut, claiming it was too long to be sanitary. He could agree with that, but he didn't know that Shockwave was going to actually cut it. He also didn't know that the teal and gray con was able to do it with just his claws. Cole couldn't budge if he tried, sure that he might lose a limb.

 

“Swindle is an arms dealer. He is technically a neutral, however, he finds that our side has the better offers for such things as weaponry.” he looked around Cole's head, and started on his bangs. How could Cole see with all that hair in his eyes? “Megatron called him here for special business. He has a few things he requires, and Swindle is one of the few bots out there that he can trust with this.”

 

“Oh.” the blond had shut his eyes, and was silently hoping they didn't get poked out. “Do I have to do anything?” he never knew with these guys if he was safe or not.

 

Shockwave finished, his rather meticulous grooming and OCDish combination giving Cole a fine, trimmed look, but kept it 'boyish' and 'cute'. He despised crew cuts, and he tried to stick with how the teen looked when he first came it. Megatron had ordered it, after all. “All you have to do is stay down and out of sight.”

 

“But what if Swindle wants to talk to me? What then?”

 

“Simple,” he said, snipping a rogue tuft of hair. “Play along.”

 

“You mean... go with what he says?”

 

The con nodded, and gathered up the towel. “Exactly. Now, I have to get to work on the space bridge. If Megatron and Swindle come in here, I want you to hide.” he wasn't in danger, but he didn't want Cole to get pulled into something like Swindle offering him weaponry. That wasn't all the smiling bot carried, after all.

 

Cole nodded, and sat on the hammock. He had some thinking to do anyway. Mostly about Megatron. Megatron, the one who pulled the strings in all of this. Megatron, the one who had given him hell since he came here. Megatron, the con who had, in his own, strange way, comforted him when he had panicked and yelled over the flaws found in the Allspark writings. Megatron, the massive, silver hellion that Cole was developing feelings for. “Crazy. Over the rainbow, I am crazy...” he muttered, rolling onto his side. He had always had an attraction to stronger men. He wasn't into being the 'husband' in a relationship... Megatron was a mystery. That made him interesting, made him deadly, made him attractive. “I must be out of my mind...”

 

The door opened, and Cole looked up. There was the familiar silhouette of Megatron, and one of... some other guy. Cole didn't know who the other guy was, so he did as Shockwave had said. He dove under the hammock, and waited. They were talking, something about prices and such... the other bot must be Swindle, then. The blond scooted back, and gasped when a set of large, purple optics were set on him.

 

“Megatron, you old softie! I didn't know you had a pet human!” the smaller mech bent down, hands on knees, and looked at the blond. “Hi there.”

 

The silver hellion nodded, “Yes, a rather special pet.” he smirked, looking at the rather confused human. “Cole, come. Say hello to our guest.”

 

Cole swallowed, and crawled out. Role with it, get out alive. “Yes, master.” he said, and stood, smiling. “Hello, sir. I'm happy to meet you.” he hoped he sounded sincere, or at least chipper.

 

Swindle grinned wider. “Aw, he calls you master? I can't get my little herd to do that.” the grinning bot asked, blinking again. He blinked a lot. “You've got a good human here, Megatron. Doesn't run, doesn't yell! The ones I sell aren't nearly this tame!” he cocked his head. “How old are you, little guy?”

 

Cole gave an innocent smile. “I'm eighteen years old, sir.”

 

Swindle laughed, and it sounded like a bark to the human. He stood up, then looked at Megatron over his shoulder. “Well that explains it! Get them young.” he turned back to Megatron. “The ones I have are all in their thirties! It alright if I treat this little guy?”

 

“I see no reason why not.” Megatron looked at the confused little blond. Cole was starting to get creeped out. “He's quite good at taking things from hands.” and getting into hands, and getting out of hands. Funny, he had trained the human. That made him smile. Good human.

 

Swindle reached into his chest compartment, and pulled out a white stick, with a bright purple ball on the end. “Come on, little guy.”

 

Cole blinked, and crept forward. A lolly? Okay, not what he had expected, but, yum. He took it slowly, looked it over, and unwrapped it. “Thank you, sir.” he meant it. He had never been a fan of candy. He'd never been a fan of 'normal' boy things. Candy, cars, girls... he liked sports, though, but he only liked to watch. He popped the lolly into his mouth. Huh, it was pretty good.

 

“You wouldn't believe the deal I got on these things.” the bot, Swindle, had that strange, easy going smile. That smile that meant we was going to try and strike a deal. “I can add it to your tab lickety split, or I can show you what else I've got.” he grinned.

 

“I would prefer that we discussed this little transaction away from Cole.” he said, smirking. “Be good, little human. I'll have Blitzwing in shortly.” he said, before guiding Swindle out.

 

“Bye, master! Miss you!” he waved, then slumped as the doors closed. “I'll never get robots.” at least the candy was good. He laid back in the hammock, thinking, and waiting. The door went up again, but in stepped Blitzwing.

 

“Alright, Cole, i-” he paused, normal optic squinting. “What are you eating?” he asked, reaching into the tank.

 

“Candy. Swindle gave it to me.” he finished the lolly with a few chomps, and walked into Blitzwing's open hand. “So where have you been lately?”

 

The triple changer shrugged, and took Cole out of the room. “Space Bridge. I have been doing a lot of welding.” he was good at welding. Shockwave said that after he grabbed Cole, he and Lugnut were to do a 'perimeter check', which they had never done before. There must have been something that Megatron wanted to do. He and Lugnut had been left in the dark about things lately. Well, more than usual.

 

“...Blitzwing?” the blond asked quietly. The three faced con looked down at him, but said nothing. “Do you guys keep humans as pets?”

 

He nodded, “Yes. Humans have come into market recently as rather popular pets.” he knew about it, after all. Some of the higher up Autobots were sometimes known for having humans for pets, but the organics were typically confiscated, based on it being 'cruel'. He didn't know what happened to them after that, though.

 

“...is that what I am, then?” Blitzwing blinked, cocking his head. “Blitzwing, _am_ I a _pet?_ ”

 

Random Blitzwing leaned forward, staring at him and grinning. “You? A pet? Ooh, and they say I'm the crazy one!”

 

Cole frowned, half pouting. His questions were almost never answered.

 

**X**

 

He had arrived. He had arrived as the sun disappeared behind the trees. The bot ran across the gravel. There were no lights on inside. He scanned the building, grinning. No ninja bot, and the human was on the ground level. Too easy. Sentinel Prime charged for the entry, lance in hand. Then he slipped, sending up gravel and dirt. “Slag!” There was a huge burst of light, and the loud bang of a gun. It missed him, and he wheeled on the shooter, finding the human in the doorway. “You're mine, meat-bag!” another shot was fired, this time popping one of his shoulder wheels. The human ran inside, and he followed, letting loose a half scream.

 

She was up against a wall, with a rope in hand. She looked up, and yelled as something came down. “Prowl!” then, something dropped onto him, sending the insane bot to the ground. Nell ran, and pulled a lever. A bell rang, and, slowly, the doors to the horse stalls opened. “Run, go! Ya! Ya!” she yelled and clapped her hands, trying to load her gun, dropping shells on the ground. “Shit.” She looked over her shoulder and yelled at the running creatures. “Go! Go!” she ran back inside. She had to aim for the faceplate. That was what Prowl told her.

 

Sentinel shredded whatever it was that landed on him, processor half screaming that it was the ninja bot, the other half confused. “Gah... what?” he held up the thing, ready to drive his lance into it, only to find he was holding a saddle. There was a loud, horrible bang, and a bullet collided with his large chin, where the jaw met the helm. Nell was standing on the loft, gun raised, and already reloading.

 

“You!” he yelled, and lunged at her, jumping up to the loft, free hand swiping at her. He crashed hard into the wood and steel loft, bringing it, and Nell, down with him. He sat up, throwing a hay bail. The bot lifted a hunk of wood, and saw the filthy meat-bag. She had a pulse. She was still alive.

 

She was lying on her back, unmoving, eyes closed, covered in dust and wood splinters. Sentinel walked toward her, grinning. He bent down, and grabbed her shirt, lifting her up. “Glitch,” he growled, readying his lance. Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she swung at him, hard, driving something metal and pointy into his broken optic. He dropped her, screaming and grabbing at his faceplate. “AHHHH! It hurts! Get it out!”

 

Nell hit the ground hard, and ran to the tack room, limping from the hard landing. She was running on adrenaline now. Fear was not a driving factor. She knew what to look for. He gun was totaled, but she was ready. Maybe not for this, but she was ready for something. “Shit, where'd it go?”she mumbled, running to the back wall. The human panted, and grabbed the long, silver cattle prod, racing back out. Nell had never used it, but she never threw it away.

 

Sentinel was still fumbling for the thing driven into his optic when the human ran back out, limping badly. He yanked out the object, and glanced at it. “A screwdriver?” a second later, his body shook, and he screamed, thrashing about. “AHHHHHH!” he rolled around, limbs flailing and clawing at his neck, before he fell silent, optics dark. The prod still buzzed, emitting hot blue sparks under the bot's armor until it went dead. Sentinel didn't move.

 

Nell's arms shook as she fumbled for her phone. She stared at the bot, and dialed 911, shaky and stumbling over her words. She heard one of the horses behind her, and turned, waving it off. It still wasn't safe here. “H-hello? I'd, uh, there's a rogue robot out here. He went crazy a-and he tried to kill me.” Nell took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. “Yeah, uh, th-th-the Magnolia center... on West Cardi-” she heard a scraping noise, turned to look, and was cut off by an arm slamming into her side, sending her into a nearby wall. Her phone lay feet way, and was crushed under a large, blue pede.

 

Sentinel's solo optic flickered. She had called backup. In his beaten and panicked mind, he could already hear them coming in droves. “Gotta move...” he grabbed her shirt, and ran. His tire had been popped, transforming wasn't an option now. “Gotta move, gotta move, gotta move!” And he ran off, the human in one hand, lance in the other.

 

**X**

 

The quiet within the plant was disturbed by the sound of Ultra Magnus talking. He had sent a distress call to Earth. The earth crew was up and at the panel, Optimus ready at the controls. “Autobots, this is an urgent call from Ultra Magnus. Respond immediately.”

 

“This is Optimus Prime. Sir, what's going on?”

 

The Magnus looked gravely at the screen, frowning deeply. “Shortly after leaving the planet, we learned that Sentinel Prime was not on board. I repeat, he is not on board. From what we can tell, he removed his tracking device, and escaped through a back entry. He left the device in the cell. It appears as though he ripped it out with his own servos.”

 

Prowl came forward, hands pressed to the control panel as he tried to remain calm. “What are you saying?”

 

The Magnus looked at Prowl, optics narrowed. “I'm saying he's still on Earth, and we have no way to track him.” he looked to Optimus, staying calm. Blurr could be heard in the background, Jazz saying something now and then, possibly to keep the twins calm. “Autobots, do all you can to find him, and contact me when you have. We can only assume that he is unarmed, but take no chances. As of now, he is a danger to himself and others. Use any means necessary to take him down. Ultra Magnus out.” the screen went black.

 

Optimus turned to Prowl. The ninja bot's mouth was open, visor wide. He actually looked scared. “Prowl-” but the bot had already turned on his heel, running for the exit. He didn't slow down.

 

“I have to get to Nell. Warn her about-” the control center went off again, this time, a human spoke. Prowl froze, terror gripping his spark.

 

“Attention Autobots, we have a report of a rogue robot in rural Detroit. The caller was cut off, but we have a location; West Cardamom Road, The Magnolia Equestrian Center, units are on the way..” then, silence.

 

Prowl tore out of the base, sirens blaring. He didn't bother with his hologram. He had to protect Nell.

 

**X**

 

Wreckage. People walking around. Flashbulbs going off. A sawed off shotgun bent almost in half. The loft torn down. Someone was scooping the remnants of a green cellphone into a bag. A saddle had been slashed to shreds.

 

Prowl walked slowly, the humans looking up at him, some not. The other Autobots were asking questions among themselves, Optimus looking around as well. “Autobots, we need to figure out what happened here. Look around, inside and out, and report what you find.” the sooner they pieced this together, the better chance there was of finding Nell alive.

 

Captain Fanzone. Good. Someone he knew. Someone that would tell him what had happened.

 

Prowl looked at the man, voice flat. Frankly, he didn't care that he sounded hollow. He didn't notice, he didn't care, he needed information, and he needed it now. “Tell me what happened.” he man crossed his arms, frowning.

 

“Well, Prowl, all we got is the trashed wall, some o' dis... glowing stuff that I'm guessin's from the crazy bot, and some shells.” he held up a bag, showing a bullet casing. “The gun was fired twice, and I'm only guessin' the other shell's stuck in a wall somewhere.” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, “Found a screwdriver covered in some of that glowing stuff, and a cattle prod that's got no juice left.”

 

Prowl's vents hitched. “She put up a fight.”

 

“Yeah, a big one.” the blond man blinked. “You know the girl that lives here?”

 

Prowl whirred quietly. “She's... my partner.”

 

The older man blinked, raising an eyebrow. “So, you wound up with a human?” when the ninja bot said nothing, Fanzone frowned. “Look, try not to worry 'bout her. There's no blood... heck, if either of 'em got hurt, it wasn't her.”

 

That didn't offer him much comfort. He had still let his guard down. Nell was missing, and despite his own hopes, his instincts told him that it was more likely than not that Nell was dead.

 

He couldn't handle that in front of his comrades. He walked away, walked outside into the night air. He couldn't feel anything but the horror and anger that was brought from the idea that he had failed. That Nell was dead. It was too real for him, the idea of her being taken out so soon, so easily...

 

A whiny caught his attention. The ninja bot didn't want to turn around, but he did. There was Casio, now almost as tall as Shylock, sniffing and snorting, eyes wide open. He was scared, and he wanted to know what was going on. Prowl looked at the mule for a moment, then slowly stepped forward. “I should have stayed here.” he whispered. The colt snorted, stretching for a neck pet. Prowl touched the colt. “You're okay, right?” he asked, getting to his knees. The mule stepped close, nuzzling and sniffing and curious.

 

Prowl's vents hitched, his hand froze in place. The ninja bots vents stuttered, and he whirred loudly. He was upset, beyond upset. Prowl had been angry before, sad before, scared before. This was horrible, having all of them knotted and tangled and pressing into his spark. “I couldn't protect her.” was this how Nell felt when she couldn't protect Champ? “I am so sorry, Casio,” he mumbled, visor rising in the center, bowing his head. “This is my fault.”

 

“No, it isn't.” Prowl didn't turn around, only bent his head when he heard Optimus speak. Casio sniffed him, confused. The metal person was sad, _really_ sad, like the master when Champ was hurt. Why? He had gotten away from the blue person, but what happened to the master? Was the master hurt? Was that why the metal person was so sad?

 

Optimus spoke, voice soft. “Prowl, I know you're angry... I'm angry, too. I know you, and you want to bolt, but you have to listen to me.” when the dark bot didn't budge, the red Prime sighed. Casio looked up at him with bright eyes, then went back to Prowl. “Sentinel was never the brightest bot out there, but he's not a complete idiot. The guy didn't get to be Prime with just flattery and aft kissing.” his optics narrowed, crossing his arms. “Ultra Magnus told us to use any means necessary to catch him... but you're not going anywhere without backup.”

 

Prowl looked, faceplate unchanging. “Why, so you can get him the 'help he needs'? He has Nell, Prime. You saw the damage he caused... for spark sake, she could be dead!” why hadn't anyone done anything to prevent this? Were they all stupid?

 

“I know, Prowl.” he was getting frustrated. “What I am trying to tell you is that you are underestimating Sentinel, we all have since this mess started. The Elite guard did, and he's loose on this planet now. He's been pulling strings and controlling the Twins, and covering things up and doing a good job of it. He _knows_ how to manipulate, and he can make plans.” he stepped in front of Prowl, the mule rushing away, thinking they were going to play. Optimus got to one knee, and made eye contact, frowning. “I want to make this clear. If anyone but you gets there first, he's going back to Cybertron, but if you get there first... well, I won't stop you.” the Sentinel he had considered a friend was gone, and Optimus knew there was no getting him back.

 

They both stood. “Let's get back to the base. Bulkhead can track her from there.” Optimus wanted to find Nell almost as much as Prowl did, but they had to get a plan together. He also had to tell Sari what happened. He had forced her to stay at the plant for this. The Prime was glad he did. None of them were handling it well. Optimus didn't look forward to telling her any of this. At least he could be there for her.

 

**X**

 

Sentinel had been running since he had grabbed the human off the ground. That had been night, when the sun was almost gone. Now, it was coming back up, spreading light to the world. He dropped the limp human at his feet, staring at her. The sun was coming up. Everything was showing again, including how badly the human had harmed him. His already damaged optic was shattered, the many nodes and wires making it up caught in a tangled mess of energon and glass. He hadn't thought she would put up such a fight. He'd be impressed if he weren't so disgusted.

 

Now what did he do? He had the human, but... there was some part of him going that this wasn't right. Most of him was overriding that little nagging thing, but he had come to far to stop now. He had to fix the glitch in the system. The only way to fix the glitch was to offline the human... but that little part of him was screaming at him not to. Why was that? That little part of him wouldn't shut up, it had been screaming since he ran into the barn. Sentinel crouched, and stared at the human.

 

He turned her over with his lance, grimacing. She hadn't done anything since he sent her into a wall. “...is there a spark in there?” He wondered aloud. No, humans didn't have sparks. They couldn't be alive if they didn't have sparks. That was logic to him. Until he had learned about organics, he thought every living thing had a spark. But humans, organics, everything on this pit forsaken rock that was sentient didn't have one! “No... you don't have a spark.” he raised an eyebrow. “How come you're alive if you don't have one?”

 

The human groaned, but did nothing more. He scuttled backwards at that. Despite his hatred for these meat-sacks, he was still a little afraid of them. Little glitch in his system had put up a fight. His optic... what had been his optic, ached, and leaked. It leaked worse than when that stupid ninja bot had cracked it. She had driven a... what was it again? Oh, screwdriver, into his optic. “I didn't think you could be that smart.” He had shut down his pain receptors. Shutting them off completely was a bad idea, but he had them on their lowest setting. “You shouldn't have come to the plant... that fragging ninja you like so much, he's the cause.” the blue bot crouched. “Can you hear me, meat-bag? You're offline because of him.” if the bot hadn't brought this human to the base, he wouldn't have found the glitch. “I'd thank that stupid ninja, but you got to him.”

 

He blinked his one optic, the other not leaking too badly. There was crashing behind him. Slag, he'd been found! “No, no, noononono!” no one could track him, how could they have found him?! Unless... there were Decepticons on the planet. He did a short, sporadic scan of the sound, and, sure enough, found a matching energy signature. He couldn't fight Decepticons, not in this condition. He ran. Those red opticed monsters could do the job for him. Kill the human. If they didn't, he'd finish her off when they were gone. For now, he ran, hard, and just listened.

 

“What in sparks name would have Megatron send us out?” angry Blitzwing's voice rag clear in the woods, Lugnut thumping behind him.

 

“You know better than to question Megatron, Blitzwing.” the behemoth grumbled. He stopped, and looked around. “Did you hear that?”

 

The Triple changer huffed. “Hear what? Are the voices back again?”

 

“No, you idiot! Listen!” the two stood still, and Lugnut pointed to his far left. “There...” There was something moaning, and it didn't sound like an animal. He held up a hefty arm, and walked toward the sound.

 

“Well?” asked Icy, trying to get a good look.

 

Lugnut bent down, main optic shrinking and expanding to get a reading. Typical organic primate. He growled. “It's just a human, nothing important. Let's go.” he stood up, and started to walk away. Blitzwing looked down at the human, and chirruped.

 

“Wait, I know this human, Lugnut.” the triple changer got down, and turned her over. He blinked. Her right arm looked funny. “Well, this is interesting. This human is the one I was supposed to capture. Instead, I grabbed our little blondy...” he knew that because Megatron had berated him for a good hour over grabbing the wrong one. He also knew that Megatron was planning to give Cole back to the Autobots. Neither cons had been told that the human was staying. The triple changer had a thought. Maybe, if they brought this one to Megatron, they could keep Cole. “Lets bring her back with us.”

 

The purple and green behemoth growled. “You fool! Why would he want her if he already has the male?” he pointed at the triple changer, “Why would a human be unconscious in the middle of the woods? It must be a trap laid by the Autobots, to find our location!”

 

Angry Blitzwing spun out, yelling. “The Autobots wouldn't harm a human just to find us, you overgrown oil leaker!” Icy came out again, and shrugged, and picked up the female, carrying her the way he would Cole. He was allowed to carry Cole, and he was always careful, just like now. “You never know, Lugnut. Megatron might appreciate this.” he headed back, human in one hand, Lugnut grumbling behind him. Random spun out. “You know you love the little blondy, Luggy!” a resounding clang was heard as Lugnut thwacked Blitzwing's helm.

 

In the trees sat an enraged Sentinel Prime, solo optic flaring hot white at. It was official. He was the last sane being on this planet. Those were Decepticons, they were supposed to kill that fragging meat-bag, not take her as an offering! “Idiots... all of them...” there was always something going on that mucked up his plan. He followed the two, staying far behind, just keeping them in sight.

 

If they didn't kill the meat-bag, he would.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there.


	41. Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Siblings reunite. Shockwave takes no shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow is another day, and you don't have to hide away.

Chapter Forty One: Battle

Never will those who wage war tire of deception. ~ Sun Tzu

X

The sun was just coming up, tinging the world with soft, red-gray light. Prowl hadn't recharged, and he had tried to meditate. It hadn't worked. He was too angry, too anxious. So, he had stayed up, wired and ready to go, and spent his time cleaning the mods he had removed those years ago.

Slowly, Prowl slid the mods over his shoulders, feeling the wires connect and disconnect as they latched onto him. They weren't heavy, which was good. He was insanely fast, as Sari had said once before. These didn't slow him down. He needed backup. This counted as backup. He remembered how the mods worked, how they attached themselves, how they were amazing things when used correctly.

In another room, he could hear Sari, her voice high and cracking. He heard Optimus, his voice calm, trying to tell her it would be okay. They would find Nell. Everything would be fine. Always the Optimist, the Prime. The ninja bot frowned, picking up the helmet. “I need to find Nell,” he said, slipping the helmet over his helm, feeling the wires reach out, the plates separate as it became a part of him again. “and these will help me.” he stood tall and walked a bit. He had to get used to the weight, light as they were. It had been a while since he tried these things on.

He stepped into the main room, earning a few surprised looks. He looked different with his mods, he knew that. He turned to Bulkhead, who was at the large monitor. “Any luck?” he found it hard to talk.

“Good news is I got a lock on her signal, bad news is it went dead.” Bulkhead said, whirring.

Prowl chirruped, spark shrinking in its casing. “Dead?”

The green behemoth looked at the ninja bot, optics wide and apologetic. “No, not that kind of dead! Sorry, Prowl... but, uh, I made that if she did go offline, it'd send an alarm to the computer, and if it'd done it, we'd know.” Bulkhead said, pointing at the screen. “Nellie's tracker going off doesn't mean she's offline. Just means she's blocked.” he leaned back, and let Prowl have a look. 

The black bot sighed with relief, if only a little came to him. “What does that mean, Bulkhead?” he asked, voice quiet and visor flattened. 

The green bot looked down at Prowl, none too happy. “It means she's somewhere with rocks or heavy grade steel, something like that. Reinforced walls, I mean. It'll flicker on again if she's near a window or something.” he shrank down a little. He could have made the tracker stronger, but then, it'd be too big for the human to just have under her skin. “It's the signatures with her that're the problem; They're not Sentinel.” he knew that even before scanning them. That raving lunatic couldn't be tracked now, anyway.

Prowl whirred. “What?” 

“They're not Sentinel, and there were two.” Bulkhead looked to Optimus. “They were Decepticon energy signatures. I didn't get a good reading on 'em, but they were by a large mountain, and then not.”

Optimus blinked. “They're inside a mountain?” oh, this rang so many bells it wasn't even funny.

“Looks like it, boss bot,” Bulkhead said, standing up, flexing his back kibble as he did. “Best we can do is got to the last beacon sent from the tracker. The thing can't 

The dark bot stood tall, nodding. “That should make it easier to find her, then. A door in a mountainside isn't easy to hide.” Prowl said, starting for the door. 

Optimus walked next to him, frowning. He looked worried and ready to roll. “Prowl, you realize that this could get bad.” he raised an eyebrow. “Going up against the Decepticons has never been easy.” the whole team just jumped from the plan of one lunatic to who-knew-how-many Decepticons.

“Sentinel hasn't always been on the 'straight and narrow', Prime. He could have made a pact with the Decepticons.” The ninja bot looked up at the red and blue Prime, visor narrow. “He teamed up with Lockdown before. What's to say he won't turn to a Decepticon again?”

“I doubt he's working with them.” the Prime said calmly. “Why would he break lose and attack her himself if he had a partner on the planet?”

“You have a point.” Prowl murmured. He frowned, fists clenched. 

“We're going.” Optimus nodded to him, and turned to everyone. “Alright, transform and roll out! Sari, you're with me,” he said, shifting into truck form and opening the drivers door. With that, the Autobots set off, sirens going in the early morning light. 

The sun was only coming up through the clouds, the red changing to orange. In Prowl's processor, he could hear Nell's voice that time long ago, that time she asked him if he could sing. He though of her as he drove, how he would offline that idiot of a Prime and get her to safety.

X

“Why so silent, little human?”

The blond looked up at Megatron. He didn't even hear him come to the tank. He was so deep in the second battle of the original thirteen that he must have blocked everything out. “Uh...” Cole shuffled, “I... I gotta ask you something. Have you... ever liked someone?” well, this was awkward.

“Yes,” he had, he wouldn't lie about that.

“And, uh...” he swallowed. Oh boy, this was fun. 

“Speak, human.” nervous humans couldn't do much before collapsing in on whatever they were doing, and he had something important to discuss.

“Ah, right, right.... have you ever liked someone a lot, b-but you're convinced that they'd never see you that way?” 

Megatron smirked, “It happens,” oh, the little male was trying to say something personal. Riveting. 

“Sometimes, though, you have to say something, because... because sometimes secrets just have to come out.” coming out, this was almost as hard.

The Decepticon overlord's smirk widened, optics narrowed. Was Cole saying what he thought he was saying? If that were the case, well...

“Sometimes, when two people are together for a long amount of time, things start to... happen. More on one side of things than on the other, and the other side doesn't seem to be... um....” 

The silver hellion raised an eyebrow, “Yes?” 

“Even remotely interested.” with that, his stomach gave out and replaced itself with a black hole. 

Megatron smirked at him, showing his fangs. Cole seemed to like the fangs. He reached into the tank and grabbed the little male, red meeting gray yet again. “How can you be certain, human?” his optics glowed upon feeling the human's pulse quicken. “I have something for you, Cole. But before I give it to you, I want to know something. Something I am quite curious to know.” he said, sitting at the desk that Cole had danced upon many times before.

“Okay.” Cole sat, hands shaking.

And so, for hopefully the last time, as he was getting tired of this question himself, Megatron asked the little male. “Who was Jake?”

The blonds face fell, and his thin brows pinched. “Oh, come on! Not this crap again,” he muttered, frowning up at Megatron. “Why do you want to know about him anyway?”

“You claimed he was a monster,” the silver hellion said with a tilt of his helm, optics half open. “I want to know what makes someone a monster, seeing that you seem to know.” Cole's angle was so much different from his own. He had claimed that Jake, as well as some female's father, were both monsters, while he, Megatron, the leader of all Decepticons, -and the one who had been tormenting him for these past months- was not. What made Cole tick? What made one a monster in his eyes? Before he did anything, he had to know. He was a monster to almost all but Cole, and he wanted it to stay that way.

“Fine...” Cole took a deep breath, and blinked his eyes to clear them. “Jake was... this guy I met when I first went homeless. He offered me money for... well, uh... sex.” he felt dirty all over again, but just for a second or so. Somehow, on Megatron's desk, under his gaze, it didn't seem to matter now.

The Decepticon blinked, and raised an eyebrow, if just a little. “That's not all that happened, though, is it?” was that all it took to make someone a monster? No, Cole had more to say, he knew. He was just scared to say it.

The teen swallowed. His insides quivered and chilled. This sucked. “...he got... rough. It was my first time with a guy, and... he got too rough. And, when I told him he was hurting me, he didn't stop, just... did more. He got off on hurting me.” he also didn't pay him what he offered. He tried not to cringe at the memory, at his own stupidity.

The silver and red robot blinked slowly, and perched his helm on a curled fist. He wasn't smirking anymore. That made it clear, though. Monsters got off on hurting people. He himself was a sadist, everyone knew that, but there was a difference between you enemy and your partner. He, unlike some, valued that, and now that he knew what made a monster a monster... “You put yourself in that situation, then.” what happened to being a smart blond?

Cole snorted, and rolled his eyes. Shake it off, shake it off and move on. “I'm not perfect, okay?”

“Oh, don't I know it, Cole.” he rarely used the human's name, but that made it worth it to see Cole's face light up for him. 

“Lord Megatron, we found something.” came the familiar German sounding Con. 

He growled audibly, frowning. “What is it, Blitzwing?”

“While Lugnut and I were out on patrol, we found something strange. Zhat human, the female zhat I was supposed to take, well...”

“Ugh... just take whatever it is to Shockwave. I'm coming.” with that, he snatched up the male, and brought him along as he thumped down the halls. He hadn't though the two would be back so soon. There went his plan with Cole. “Blitzwing found something that he just had to interrupt me for.”

Cole wiggled in his grasp. “Too tight!” he squeaked. The Decepticon halted, and relaxed his grip on the human. Oops. “Gah... why are you so worked up, Lord Megatron?”

Cole had never called him 'Lord Megatron' before. He was simply Megatron to the teen. He hummed, and kept going. “It can wait.” he stepped into Shockwave's quarters, ignoring the triple changer and the walking ammo locker. “What is so important?” he asked, looking into the tank to find an oddly familiar human female...

And Cole Screamed. He screamed loudly, horrified at what lay in the tank. It was his sister! His sister in a sling, in the tank, hurt! No! No, what happened to her! “MATTIE! MATTIE!” but she didn't respond. “Who hurt my sister? Mattie!”

Shockwave's optic shrank to a pinpoint. Ugh, the sound! Cole was past screaming, covering his face and crying, or trying not to. The antlered Con shoved the confused Blitzwing and Lugnut out of the room. Not good.

Megatron's audios were ringing from the sound. What to do? “Cole,” he said loudly. The blond continued to sob, and the silver hellion brought him to his faceplate, patience thin. He did not like humans when they screamed. “Cole, stop screaming.” he ordered it, but the blond continued. He rumbled, and glanced at Shockwave before placing his other hand over Cole, half cupping him. He murmured into the space, optics set ahead. “...enough, human. Stop. Screaming. I won't let you near her if you keep this up. Do you hear me?” the blond didn't look up, but nodded, still shaking badly. That must have been the worst way to calm the human down, but it wasn't his role to cuddle. Ugh, the word even made his tank roll. 

The screaming must have roused the female, because the woman stirred, blinked, and looked up at Shockwave. But instead of the anticipated scream he was sure he would receive, she smirked, and spoke. “Hi Satan. Come for me already?”

Shockwave whirred, and cocked his helm. “Excuse me?”

“Huh, you're British?” she said, blinking a few times. “Somehow that makes sense to me... didn't think you were real, but-”

“Mattie!” the dazed female turned, and was promptly smothered by her brother. Wait... her brother? In here? With Satan and some crazy German guy? Ow... what happened? “Oh thank god... what happened to you?” he had stopped crying now that he had his arms around her neck. She was here, with him now. He hadn't realized he had missed her so much until right then!

Nell blinked. “Okay, now I'm really confused. What are you doing in hell?”

Cole blinked at her like she had lost her mind. “What do you mean 'what am I doing here?' Mattie, what are you doing here? How'd you get hurt?”

“Wait... okay, so, I'm not in hell then?” she mumbled, earning a frantic head shake from her brother. The woman sat up, frowning. “Then, where am I?”

Cole blinked, hands over her free one. “You're in a Decepticon base. Lugnut and Blitzwing... uh... two guys found you, brought you here.” He swallowed, scared. “Tell me how you got hurt, please.”

The woman took a deep breath, vision still fogged up. “You know that foghorn, Leno-bot? Well, he's gone insane. He killed a horse, and tried to kill me.”she was till confused. “I'm still pretty sure I'm dead. Cole, when did you die?”

The blond blinked. She wasn't talking sense, really, and it frightened him. Shockwave spoke up. “You are online, but battered beyond belief. You hit your helm, sprained your right wrist, and will have, what are they called, bruises, for weeks, but you are very much online. For a human, you are very lucky.”

The large, silver robot, who had been quietly standing around the tank –What was his name again?- narrowed his optics. “What is a Leno-bot?”

The woman looked up at him, Cole curling up next to her, hugging her good arm. “Guy's named Sentinel Prime. He went insane, I think.” she blinked at the silver robot, confused. “Who are you again?” she didn't get a name for him, or the devil bot.

“I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.” he said, optics focused in on her. 

“...Magmatron?” she said, raising a confused eyebrow. Cole shoved nudged her ribs, and she grunted. “Hey!”

“Sis, it's Megatron. That big guy, Lugnut, gets pissy if people poke fun at him, okay?” he was dead serious, but Megatron was smirking. 

“Not poking fun, I just, it's a mountain and... there was Sentinel with... Oh shit!” she said, standing up. “Listen, I know you'll probably ignore this, but you gotta get rid of me, like, now!” she wobbled, but stood tall. Well, as tall as a five-foot-zero human could. “This isn't the head thing, this is real! Get rid of me or they'll find you!” she knew what Prowl had said about the Decepticons, but they weren't acting anything like what her ninja bot had said. From what he had told her, Sentinel was closer to a Decepticon than these guys were!

“I don't plan to terminate you, if that's what you mean, human.” Megatron growled. Primus, the female was weird!

“You don't get it!” Nell yelled, looking hard at the silver hellion. “There is a tracker in my back. The Autobots made it for me. I asked them to do it because I'm a downright paranoid moron! Sentinel Prime tried to kill me, okay? I don't know what's wrong with him, but he is a fucking lunatic! The Autobots know I got taken, and they will track me, and they will find you.”

Megatron blinked. Oh, this was not good. “A tracker, you say?” well, there went keeping the female for a hostage. No real loss, though. Swindle was working on another half of the bargain they had made. He stood. “I suppose holding them off won't be too hard.” he smirked. “Shockwave, execute plan A6 for the female. I'll alert you when the Autobots are in sight. You will take Cole to the under chamber, then meet us above ground, understood?”

The antlered Con bowed his helm in reply. “As you command, my lord.”

The held a hand to his helm, and spoke. “Lugnut, Blitzwing, you're to head out first. I'll be close behind. Get as far from the base as you can.” he said. This was a strategy. They went out first, and he came out soon after. This way, the base wasn't left unguarded for too long. Shockwave would be out close to the end. He was quite the fighter, but he needed to protect Cole for now. Protect Cole... that was a strange thing to think about.

“Megatron, what are you doing?” Cole almost screamed, running to the barrier. He didn't know why he was so scared of Megatron running into battle. Megatron was a beast, a powerhouse of a war machine with a canon taking up most of his arm! Why did this scare him? “You're gonna get killed!” oh, what a steaming load that was! But the blond was panicked, and that's what came to mind.

The silver hellion turned sharply, brows raised. Him? Killed? Ha! “I have been fighting these slag heap soldiers for more than a millennia.” he crouched, and grinned. No fang bearing, he just grinned. At Cole's fear, at his concern, at him. Megatron's optics glowed. “I spent over fifty years as a head and a hand, Cole.” he pulled back, and readied his swords, heading for the exit again. “They will need more than a few second rate soldiers to put me offline!” he called out, charging out to the main doorway.

Cole stared, and sat, dumbfounded. There he went. Confident, powerful, strong... “Cole, I gotta ask.” came a voice behind him. He jumped. He had forgotten she was there for a second! How weird. Nell blinked, still cradling her arm in its sling. “Are you and that... what's his name, Megatron?”

“Yes. Thanks for saying it right this time.” Magmatron? Come on, Megatron's name was easy to remember. “What about him?”

Nell blinked. “... are you, uh, into him? Or is my head making stuff up again?”

The blond's pale skin turned bright red. “Uh... I … maybe, I don't know... I think so?”

The woman frowned, giving him a friendly punch in the arm. “And you gave me a rough time for liking Prowl! That Megatron guy has a canon for an arm! Jeez, at least Prowl's weapons aren't attached!” she was just joking with him, of course.

Cole rolled his eyes. “He's still a dumb ninja, Mattie.”

“You insult my ninja, you get an ass whoopin'. You wanna go, little man?” she said, standing up and raising her good arm. 

“Your ninja? Oh, man, you didn't! ...and who you calling little? You've always been the short one!” he giggled. “I missed you, sis.” he hugged her, making her feel warm and very, very short.

Shockwave leaned over the two. “When you two are done throwing insults, do let me know.”

Nell blinked at him. “...seriously, you guys are nothing like what Prowl told me.”

The double agent chirruped, something he rarely did. “What did this Prowl tell you, then?”

Nell huffed, Cole using her shoulder as a pillow, like he had when younger. “Said to avoid anyone with red optics. Liars, murderers, monsters, that kind of thing. Uh, sorry about the whole... Satan thingy... kinda dizzy.”

Shockwave nodded, crossing his arms. “As are the Autobots to us. I believe your brother has said that things are never black and white,” he sounded bored as he spoke. “Or I suppose in this case, red and blue.”

“Ha,” Cole said, smirking. “So, what's the plan for Mattie?”

Shockwave bent down, and looked at them both. “Once Megatron and the others have sighted the Autobots, he will alert me. You, female, I will have to take out one of the back ways, and leave you in the woods. The Autobots will be able to track you from there, and the rest should be simple.”

“Sure sounds simple.” she said. “But what about Cole?”

“He will be placed in the under chamber, something I designed to store supplies.” it wasn't so much a chamber as it was an escape way, and it most certainly wasn't for supplies. It lead to a second base he had created, many miles from the current one. It would take time to get to the other base, seeing that the space bridge might need to be transported at some point. “Think of it as a pantry.” he had to lie to her. She'd be returned to the Autobots soon, and he wouldn't risk them being found here. They'd have to move out, and soon. “I just received the call. We have to go.” he reached down, and grabbed Cole.

“Holy!” Nell yelled, backing up. She didn't know he had claws!

“Don't worry, Mattie. Shockwave's gentle,” the blond said from said Con's hand. Shockwave held his hand open, and let her grab onto him. She was so much smaller than Cole, and she had had the slag beaten out of her. He could be very gentle when he had to be. “See? Told you.” and the three headed down a hallway, lit only by a few, sparse purple lights.

“So... how long have you been with these guys?” Nell asked, trying to make sense of all of this.

“Dunno... few months?”

“Huh... explains why you never called me b-”

Shockwave halted in the hall, optic wide. “Shh, listen,” the Con hissed, and the three of them listened. There was a thumping, coming from behind them and getting closer. Shockwave listened. This was not good. Whoever they were, they were looking for a weak spot in the wall. They knew they were down here! He backed away, and set the humans down. He looked down, and whispered, “Get as far from me as you-” 

But the wall behind him started to give, and sunlight poured into the dark hallway, and with it came a dusty, beaten, bat-shit crazy Sentinel Prime. His intact optic glowed hot white as he stumbled upwards, smiling ecstatically at the antlered Decepticon. “I knew I heard the glitch in here! I heard the glitch talking!” he jabbered, pulling out his lance and charging Shockwave. Everyone was the enemy until the glitch was fixed! If he fixed the glitch, he fixed the balance!

The brother and sister ran, ducking behind a wall as the two fought. Cole looked back to see Shockwave grab Sentinel's neck and bring down his feet. Glass broke, Sentinel shrieked, and Nell pulled her brother back behind a wall in time to see the double agent drive his claws into the blue Prime's faceplate. 

Nell swallowed, shaking. She just found her brother, and now he was under threat. Obviously not good. She had a few options, the best one striking her heart cold. It was this, or risk Cole getting hurt. She looked at him, and grabbed one of his shoulders. “Cole, listen to me, okay? I love you. You're always gonna be my little brother, no matter what, okay?” she felt a lump in her throat. The blond blinked at her.

She was planning something. “I love you, too... Nell.” He hugged her, and looked down at her. “I don't know what's going to happen now.” something told him he wouldn't see his sister again. That hurt like crazy, that hurt more than nearly anything. “What are you going to do?”

“Sentinel isn't gonna get you, bro. Just stay here, I'll... I'll think of something.” she said as he sat down. The woman blinked a few times, and kissed Cole's forehead. “Love you, bro. Be good, okay?” and she ran from him, out to the sound of a robot brawl in the making. Cole shrank into the wall, covering his ears, rosary cold on his neck, eyes blurring with panic and tears. He heard Shockwave yell, and the world shook again, dust and pebbles falling from the ceiling.

“Where's the human? I know you have the glitch!” Sentinel screamed. He was leaking badly, slashes covering his chest plate and stomach plating, exposing wires and gears, fluids leaking from the deeper ones. One of his shoulder shovels was torn clean off, but he didn't care. Fix the glitch, fix the balance. That was all that mattered.

Nell stepped into sight, scared to death, but she had to protect Cole. “You damn freak!” She waved her good arm, glaring at the crazed bot with wet eyes. “Come and get me, tin man!” and Sentinel heard Nell yell, her voice deep and loud.

Sentinel about roared, and charged her, grabbing her up, forcing the air out of her lungs. He heard the fighting. All of them were out to get him. All of them, bot and con alike had come together to end him! He knew it. He could hear them coming from all around. He clamored up the wall, and bolted out of the hole, running far and long into the woods, the human in hand.

Silence.

“Shockwave?” Cole asked softly, looking around. His sister and Sentinel were gone. He stepped away from the wall, the sunlight filtering in from the hole in the wall. There was a groan, and he turned, looking at a damaged, unmoving Decepticon. He bit back a sob, and walked toward the prone robot. He was on his side, facing the wall. Cole couldn't tell if the Decepticon was alive or not, and his shaking fingers weren't interested in the rosary. “Shockwave?” his voice felt too small for him, and he, horrified, touched the double agent's back. He wasn't moving.

“Ugh... Primus almighty,” the antlered bot pushed himself to his knees, rubble falling off his gray and teal frame. “Cole, where are you?” he said, voice still the wispy British dialect it had always been. He knew he had heard him a moment ago. “Cole, answer me,” he said a bit louder.

The blond could have cried, and wrapped around Shockwave's thin arm in a frightened hug. “I'm here. Oh, thank god, I thought you were dead!”

“It takes more than an insane Autobot to take me down.” he said, turning his helm to look at the blond, only to show the full extent of the fight. His optic was completely shattered, and it glowed a painful red. His right antler was missing, as if torn off. There was a deep, leaking gash in his left shoulder, exposing wires and softly glowing tubes. “Cole, you have to speak up. I can't quite hear you.”

But Cole was covering his mouth, trying to hide his sobs. Shockwave was hurt bad. “What happened to you? Where's Mattie?” he asked, voice shaky.

The double agent slowly sat up, feeling Cole let go of him. “Sentinel Prime had shattered my optic, so I am not certain. I heard her, though. He slashed at me, and left. I can... only assume...” he could hear Cole crying. It took two seconds of the hearing it to know he didn't like the sound. Now he knew why Blitzwing didn't either. “You shouldn't worry. He won't get very far,” he lifted his left hand, and showed one of Sentinel Prime's audio receptors, coated in fresh energon, wires hanging from where it had been connected. “As your kind puts it, an eye for an eye. I managed to throw one of my flame grenades, but the sparking device failed.” he had also slashed that slagtards faceplate open with his claws, but that didn't matter. He could have cut that crazy slagheap to ribbons had his optic been alright. There was silence, and then shuffling. “Cole?”

The little blond had to get to Megatron. Megatron would know what to do. Far, far away, he heard Angry Blitzwing spouting off insults, then Random cackling as metal crunched. Glass broke, and Cole heard Optimus Prime yell as an explosion shook the ground and Lugnut bellowing about his leader. Voices echoed, crashes rang out, and Cole, terrified but determined, climbed up the rubble and out of the hole in the mountainside, gripping his rosary. He had to find Megatron. “And though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me...” and he was gone into the thick of the metal fray, running for all he was worth to find the Decepticon he had somehow fallen for.

The cyclopean bot tried again. “...Cole?” oh no. Cole wasn't stupid enough to walk out into a battle, was he? “Cole, get back here.” he said, voice laced with pain. Upon reaching out for the small body, the double agent gasped. That hurt his shoulder more than he had thought. Shockwave staggered to his feet, claws digging into the wall. His job was to keep Cole alive, and he had stepped out into battle! He followed the wall, and dulled his pain receptors. The pain, though horrible, dulled, just enough for him to move. First, replace his optic lens. Then fix the gash in his chest plate. His antler could wait. The wall could wait. Cole could not. He had to hurry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll be a man, boy. But for now it's time to run. It's time to run.


	42. Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the moon... then back to earth.

Chapter Forty Two: Shift

 

_When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.  ~Victor Frankl_

 

**X**

 

Today was the day, and Starscream was excited. He had everything ready, he had so much work filed and waiting, and all he had to do now was wait for Sarah to wake up.

 

It was driving him nuts. How long did she have to sleep? “Sarah,” he said quietly, and she didn't budge, save for breathing. “Sarah,” the impatient seeker said, a bit louder. Still, not a movement, not a sound. “Female...” she rolled away from him, groaned, flipped him off, and tried to burrow into the floor. “Oh, you little-” with that, he reached into the tank, and scooped her up. Her head rolled around on her shoulders, and she looked up at him, glaring. “Ah, good morning.”

 

She blinked, groggy from her sudden grabbing out of dreamland. “What is it, Starscream? Are there clones attacking or something?”

 

“Ah, no, no. I need to show you something. It's rather important, Sarah, so, I want you to wake up a little.” he said, grinning. Despite her feelings for the seeker holding her, the human really wanted to tell him to fuck off.

 

“What is it, then?” she mumbled, shaking her head to clear it of the invasive black static.

 

“You'll see.” the seeker walked out of the room, taking her with him. “I've been working on this for a long time. I finished it-” he pressed a hand to a panel, a strip of blue light scanning his hand, “-not long ago.” he tapped on a small keypad that appeared under the hand scanner, and the door went to the side.

 

Bodies. The shells of other seekers, gray, sparkless, empty. He was impressed, his little female didn't look at all bothered. These shells had never been used, expressionless, dull, colorless. They watched him as he walked, but he knew they couldn't see. So much planning, so much effort, failed. He did not like failure. “You see, I needed more seekers if I was to take control of the Decepticons...” he looked to her, optics dark. “That was where you came in, before my plans were so vastly changed.” before he fell in love. Primus, the idea sickened him when he thought about it, which was why he tried not to.

 

The dirt blond thought about that, looking at the blackened optics of the many seekers surrounding them. How did she come into things about seekers? “Why not just be the seeker leader?” she asked, looking at the project that had eaten up her seekers time. Who were they? They looked like sleeker versions of that clone from long ago. She squinted.

 

He blinked. “...keep talking.” it had been an idea, but there weren't many seekers. Well over a thousand, but by his entire race's standards, that wasn't much. Besides, seekers weren't too keen on being ordered around. He should know, he hated being ordered around, after all.

 

“I mean, think about it. That clone you made... the white one, yeah,” ugh, she still hated thinking about it. In the clones hand, desperate for air. In Starscream's hands, him trying everything to keep her talking and awake. In the dome, with the nightmares, and him outside, waiting. That was a horrible time. “That clone was pretty tough. Not as tough as you, but holy shit! How many do you have?”

 

“Ah...” he smiled, puffing up a bit. He was the original, and, of course, the best there was. “At the moment, four. _One_ of them a femme.” when his human blinked at him confusedly, he shrugged. “Don't ask.” he was quite proud of himself for creating the clones... but he didn't know if any of them were alive. He hadn't been too eager to deal with the liar clone to begin with. He realized that he was happier with the idea of the clones not being online.

 

She frowned. “You could make others if you can. They could... I don't know...” she didn't know what she was saying anymore.

 

“Ah, but I _did_ make more, so to speak,” he said, continuing on his way to the workshop. This was what he had wanted to show her for the longest time. He pulled back a tarp that had covered the body, and grinned. He was quite proud of his work. This one was different from the other shells. He hadn't fired up the assembly line for this one, oh no. The hundreds of shells that lined the walls were nothing compared to _**Project Icarus**_. He poured the metal into the mold, hammered it to fit his blueprints. Hand built, welded, painted... quite the bit of work.

 

“Who is that?” she asked from his hand. Here was another seeker, it looked different. It was thinner, and had no null rays.

 

The magenta seeker grinned. “That is a femme, Sarah. You could call her a female seeker, but really, there's no need... Go on, take a closer look. She's certainly not going anywhere,” he said, setting her on the table. The seeker crossed his arms, tossing the tarp behind him. He hoped she got a good look.

 

Sarah blinked, and stepped over the femme's arm, hand touching her chest plate carefully. She looked down, and sat, taking the femme's hand and, with much strain, flipped it over to lay palm up. Her claws were sharp, and dark gray like her arms, abs, legs and face. She also had twin lines going down her face like tear tracks. Her 'gloves and boots' were navy blue, and shiny. She had a copper cockpit, which matched the copper streaks marbled in her dark turquoise paint. Turquoise... wait... “Starscream, what's this femmes name?” she swallowed, blinking. This couldn't be happening. “Who _is_ she?”

 

He gave his little human a grin full of teeth. “You.”

 

She blinked, mouth agape. “You're shitting me! What is this, a battle suit?” she asked, eyes wide.

 

Battle suit? Whoever heard of a robotic battle suit? “No... it's a body, Sarah. _Your_ body.” he saw the fear, and the wonder in her eyes, and explained. “I have been working on your new body for a long time. The paint you chose was the base color, and I added my own little touches from there.”

 

The female stared at the femme's body, at her face, at her wings. There was something written on her wings. At least, it looked like writing. “...what do the wings say?”

 

He grinned at her. Oh, how fun it was to paint those words onto her wings. Jet black, to make the words stand out to all those who saw them, would fear them, would revere them. “Your right wing says 'demon', and your left wing says 'heart'.”

 

Sarah blinked. “Demonheart?”

 

Starscream puffed his chest out at that, a seeker's sign of pride. “Exactly! That will be your call-sign in battle... if you actually went into battle, of course,” had he his way, she'd never see war. He rarely got his way, really.

 

She frowned, crossing her arms at the seeker. “So, how long have you planned this?”

 

“This was the plan from the beginning! I wanted to see if I could transfer a human soul into a functioning spark. I can. I've done a thousand simulations, and most of them turned out perfectly!” or, there were the rare sixteen times that the simulation failed, and the subject was killed.

 

“...you're sick.” she mumbled.

 

He could only roll his optics. “Maybe so, but try and see it from my angle, my dear.” he leaned down, staring at her face. “You will not live forever. I will outlive you, and we both know it. I will only have you alive in this human body for another fifty years, if you and I are lucky...”

 

“That's still sick!” she yelled.

 

He raised an eyebrow. Well, someone was sensitive! She had liked the idea a moment ago! “I'm not _forcing_ you to do it, I'll have you know. I was going to, but you had to grow on me like a pack of space barnacles!” he fell in love with his test subject. It was wrong in and of itself, to fall for the one you were only going to use to prove something could be done. “You're going to have plenty of time to think about it.”

 

Sarah yelled at him. “I don't have a fucking choice now!” She was scared shitless of this. That body behind her would be her new one. How did it work? What did it do? Would it hurt to switch? Was he really willing to put her at risk for a project? “I'm gonna end up in there one way or another. I know you.” he said he wouldn't force her, but he also said he was going to repaint the walls.

 

The seekers optics glowed. “Then why fight it?”

 

“I'm going into a body and I don't know what it'll do! The fuck do you think I'm gonna say about it? Lets do it! No!”

 

He was not bothered by her yelling. It was expected, after all. “Of course not. It won't be an easy adjustment.” how to explain it. “Don't you want to start clean? To start again, in a powerful body that no one will dare attack? That no one has tried to ruin? You said it yourself, I could rule the seekers...” he smiled down at her, lifting her up to look closer at her. “but every good monarch should have a queen to stand beside him.”

 

“I'm no queen, you moron,” she grumbled.

 

“Oh, but you're _my_ queen.” at least she would be, given the right amount of time.

 

“Not what I meant. Queens don't look like me.” she was ugly! Despite what Starscream told her, she was ugly and she knew it! That body wasn't right for her. The femme wasn't hideous. She _was_.

 

He frowned. Okay then, truth time. Great, he'd probably frag that up, too. “I used _your_ body to make this, you know. The streaks and markings... just like your scars.” it was true. He had made sure to place the markings close to where her scars were. “and, believe it or not, the face is what _I_ see when I look at you. Not what _you_ see.” he didn't know what she saw, but she wasn't ugly to him. From his scans, there was nothing wrong with her vision. “Anything to make you feel more at home.” he heard a sudden beeping from far down the hall, and he grabbed Sarah from the table, leaving the room, and the femme shell, behind him.

 

“What's that sound?”

 

He ran, staring down the hall as he spoke. “That is an alarm system. It only goes off if a certain few frequencies are showing.” he smirked. “It's a Decepticon signature. I programmed it myself.”

 

“Which means what?” she called out over the thundering of his pedes.

 

He grinned. “Which means that Megatron has finally shown his sorry skidplate!” he ran faster, and almost jumped into his regular seat. He set her on the table, her rolling onto her side from the half drop. Jeez, he hadn't been that rough in a long time!

 

“Now to track that slagger's ship.” his claws flew over the keys. “I've got a lock on his signature!” But to his befuddlement, he wasn't on a ship. He was on Earth.

 

After a second or so of staring, the magenta seekers optics flared bright red, and he snarled. “Curse you, Megatron! His energy signature is right there, out in the open! It's Earth he's on! I can't go down there, though. I can't leave you here, alone. Not anymore.” he looked at her, faceplate pinched and angry. Not at her. Well, okay, maybe a bit. Okay, he _was_ pissed at her _and_ Megatron _and_ everything else... “I can't take you with me! The idiots on that pit slagging mud ball almost got you killed that last time!” he yelled, slamming a fist into the nearby wall. “Taking you into battle is out of the question, even with your new body.”

 

The human stared at him. Why the hell was he angry at her? She glared hard at him. “You know what? I'm gonna do it. I'll get in that body, but you have to make me a deal.”

 

He blinked at her. “What kind of deal?”

 

“If you leave the moon, I have to go with you. I'm not gonna stay here and play house wife.” she huffed at him. Her mother had been a house wife, and she was miserable, thought that had something to do with her father. “Where you go, I go too. You're not going to that hellhole without me, got it?” he stared like she had lost her mind. “ _Got it?!_ ”

 

“You... want to go with me in battle?” he didn't want her anywhere near a battle.

 

“The hell did I just say?” the female asked, unhappy.

 

“I'll have to train you to fight, you know. You'll have to learn to fly. I'm not a patient teacher.” why was he talking her out of this? She's be safer in the seeker body than she could have ever been in this human one! She would need to learn to fly to begin with. She'd need weapons, null rays, training, practice...

 

“You want me in that body or not, Starscream?” Sarah mumbled. Deep down, she did love Starscream, but he pissed her off so much some days that she couldn't see a point to it. Why did he love her? Part of her doubted that he even did.

 

“...I do... but you're asking me to put you in danger. Human, the point of that body is to keep you safe!” he blinked, and balanced his helm on his claws. “Although, when one is among seekers, you couldn't be safer or in more danger.” he smirked at her. “Good idea, Sarah. Very good.”

 

“You called me human.” she growled. “Asshole,”

 

“Would an asshole be planning on installing null rays on you for added protection? I think not!” he yelled, but he was smiling. There was the Sarah he knew. Bitter, tough, his little messed up songbird! “It will take some time to get them attached and functioning, but that will give you time to prepare.”

 

Then Sarah was smiling, too. Not a big smile like his, no, more of a smirk. “Great... I'm gonna be a tin can like you?”

 

He huffed. “Who wouldn't want to be like me?” Null rays were a cinch. The body would be ready in a few days at this rate. Seeing Sarah smiling again... wait, she was angry a second ago. “Did you just try to manipulate me, female?”

 

“Kinda?” she had honestly been mad at him, but the idea of having her own weaponry made her a little giddy. She wasn't against proper violence, after all, but only if it was proper.

 

The magenta seeker blinked. “See? You're well on your way to being a fine seeker femme.”

 

The dirty blond rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”

 

**X**

 

Far from the city of Detroit, past a forest of trees, a fight was going on. Trees fell as a red and blue Autobot was thrown. He got back up, and raced at the Decepticon, Prowl jumping down from a tree. They had their hands full dealing with Blitzwing. The triple changer may have been unstable, but in a fight, he was insane.

 

“You puny Autobots think you can take me on?” yelled angry Blitzwing before firing at the oncoming ninja bot. Prowl dodged in mid air, and kicked the triple changer's head, landing behind him. Optimus was up and running, grapplers wrapping around the dizzy con's legs. Blitzwing took a step, or he tried, and he fell forward hard, taking a few trees, and Optimus, with him. The Prime let go and ran, ax ready.

The con sat up, and fired an ice beam at the oncoming bot, knocking him back. “Still think you can take me?” he said coolly. Sari soared in overhead, shooting energy beams at the crazy con, melting the end on one of his canons.

 

From above, Prowl rammed one of his twin swords into the tan and purple con's arm, the other in his lower back, pulling them both out and bounding away to help Optimus. Blitzwing screamed, trying to look at the new wounds. Prowl brought his heel down on the thick ice, cracking it enough to free his friend. “You alright?”

 

“I'll live,” he grunted, standing up. Sari flew next to him, hammer at the ready.

 

“Optimus, I'll distract Blitzbrain.” Sari flew at him, just to get him to look away from her bot. “You want a piece of me, Decepticreep?” she yelled, dodging his fists and swinging her hammer.

 

Far off, Prowl heard the familiar sound of a canon firing, and he turned his head. Megatron. Far away and coming closer was the great silver hellion. He turned back to Optimus, just as Blitzwing came at them again. “Go, we'll handle Blitzwing!” he yelled, slamming the side of his ax in the oncoming con's chest plate as the yellow techno-teen brought her hammer down on the con's helm.

 

According to what Bulkhead had said, the Decepticons currently had Nell, and she was very much alive. The black bot, upon seeing the Decepticon warlord, charged forward, processor blanked out from anger and raw determination. Megatron would tell him where his partner was.

 

With his twin swords ready and his jump jets set to full, Prowl took a flying leap at Megatron, teeth bared, pede's pushing him from tree to tree as he closed in on the massive beast of a robot.

 

He _would_ find Nell, even if it meant he had to take on Megatron himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kill the lights, we're going till there's no pulse left.


	43. Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight, another fight, and a lot of yelling

_Chapter Forty Three: Hunt_

 

_There is not a day or night that a doe offers her life for her kittens, or some honest captain of Owsla, his life for his chief. But there is no bargain: what is, is what must be. ~ Watership Down_

 

**X**

 

His body raced through the battlefield, terror shaking him to the core. Cole had never liked violence, and now he was surrounded. Metal bodies crashing and falling. He needed to find Megatron, he had to tell him the base had been hit. He had to be sure he was alive. A shadow crossed overhead, and the teen dove behind a tree, hiding from Sari. Damn, if the Autobots saw him, he would be taken away. He didn't want that!

 

The techno-teen hovered overhead, soaring forward to swing her hammer into the already dizzy Blitzwing. Cole winced, not sure if he should root for the teen or the lunatic. Sure, he liked Blitzwing, but Sari had been kind to him before. The teen covered his ears, and shut his eyes. There was muffled crunching, and the sound of a blade slicing air. Then Blitzwing was screaming. Cole held his breath, hoping to hear canon fire. Blitzwing had canons, he could fight back. Cole held his rosary tight, shaking. He stood, stumbled, sprinted away. Seconds after that, the blond heard another scream, but this time, from Optimus.

 

He looked over his shoulder, just for a second. Blitzwing was standing tall and red faced, and firing at the Prime. The red and blue bot was anchored to the ground by a mound of ice, Sari hitting it to free him.

 

Thank god, the triple changer was fine! No time to celebrate, he had to get to Megatron.

 

**X**

 

Megatron hadn't expected much of a fight. This was more to get the Autobots away from the base than anything. Hopefully they would find the human, and go. The Autobots were never ones for endangering human life forms. He was glad that Shockwave had designed an escape route. After this, he would be sure to move everyone into the second base. They would be harder to find there.

 

He suddenly heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and something sharp lodged itself into his ankle. It caught him off guard, and he fell, hard, already pushing himself up. No sooner had Megatron fallen to the ground had a certain black ninja bot landed on top of him, angry faceplate hovering just above his own. “Where is she?” he yelled, pressing the energon blade into the con's neck armor. “Where is Nell?!”

 

Megatron's optics narrowed. With a hurried grab, he had the ninja bot around the waist, and pinned him to the ground, putting his weight on the bot. “I don't have your human, Autobot.” he pressed hard, smirking as the bot struggled and glass cracked. Prowl groaned under the pressure, before driving an energon sword into the con's arm. Megatron reared back, growling.

 

With that, he landed a glancing kick to one of Megatron's audios, then pushed off the con's massive shoulder. Hitting an audio or antennae was an old move. If done right, it could topple a con. He didn't topple Megatron, but he did disorient him. Good. The ninja bot clung to a tree, and launched his body at the con with a loud grunt.

 

“Not again, Autobot,” growled the hellion, swinging a sword at the black bot. The heavy blade sliced through the ninja without problem, slicing him in half... but then the ninja bots body began to fade, and the silver con felt twin blades in his back. He screamed. The hologram! How did he miss the hologram?

 

Prowl pulled his swords out of the Decepticons back plating, and kicked off, Megatron swinging around to grab him. There was a sudden crunch, and the bot was screaming now, dangling in his grasp. Megatron had Prowl's left leg in his hand, and he held him up, growling. The silver hellion aimed his canon at his chest plate, the violet glow pulsing as it readied itself. Prowl twisted upward, and stabbed Megatron's wrist. “Gah!” and the Autobot was loose, now with a cracked chest plate and a crushed leg. So, the fool was retreating...

 

But the ninja bot was bearing his teeth at him, and charging, shurikens drawn, limping, but still faster than anything. Megatron raised his canon again. Prowl yelled, and toppled, leg giving in after all that. The con screamed, canon powering down.

 

Prowl had thrown his shurikens, and hit his target. One of them sliced open Megatron's cheek, and the other... yes!

 

It was then that the silver and red Decepticon realized his arm was no longer attached to his body.

 

The two went for each other again, one swaying from a missing arm, the other hobbling from a crushed leg.

 

Neither was about to surrender.

 

**X**

 

Cole had been dodging splinters and shrapnel for the last twenty minutes, running and hoping to find the silver con that had taken over his world. Ahead of him, Bumblebee was sent into the trees by Lugnut, only to come charging back at full speed. Lugnut! The fanboy! He'd know where Megatron was! “Lugnut!” he yelled, happy to see the walking ammo locker for once.

 

The behemoth looked up, then bent down, launching a bout of missiles from his back. The yellow bot shrieked, and dove out of the way. Lugnut looked up again, large optic blazing.

 

“Fool! What are you doing?!” he yelled. This was no place for a human!

 

“I don't- I can't... I can't breath! We got hit! Where's Megatron?” the human gasped and panted, staring blankly at Lugnut.

 

“What?!” the Decepticon bellowed.

 

“Where is Megatron?! I have to get to Megatron!” the blond screamed back, voice cracking to the point of silence.

 

The behemoth stared. The human was out here, running around and endangering himself like an idiot, because of the great and powerful Megatron? Seemed logical to him, he was a warrior, but for a human? This was suicide! There was a crashing, and another bot came into things, roaring and swinging a wrecking ball.

 

Cole knew it to be Bulkhead, and he ducked. He didn't want to be seen! The Autobots were everywhere! Lugnut looked down at the cowering human, and back up at the fellow behemoth. They were matched for size, and he charged forward, locking hand in hand with the green Autobot. He roared, and threw Bulkhead hard, sending him into the trees. “Run, fool!” he yelled at Cole, and ran forward, one of his claws folding back to show a huge, red button.

 

The blond did as told, and ran, hard. He didn't look back. Lugnut wasn't even scratched up when he thought about it-

 

_**FWOOM!** _ There was an explosion, one larger than the ones before, and Cole was throw forward. He didn't know what it was, but there was a massive crater behind him now, and he couldn't see anyone now. The trees nearby had been toppled at the roots. The teen landed on his stomach, and flipped a few times before stopping, sweating and dirty and dizzy.

 

“Where are you, Megatron?” he asked the ground, stumbling to his feet. The world was rather quiet after the explosion, nothing but a constant ring was heard. The farther he ran, the sooner the sounds around him returned. Cole looked around, hoping to hear something... and he heard a scream.

 

No... Megatron didn't  _ scream _ . That didn't make sense. Yet the blond knew it was his voice. He'd know that anywhere, raspy and low and perfect... and screaming bloody murder! Dear god, what were the Autobots doing to him? “Megatron!” he yelled, running toward the sounds of war. His gut told him to run away, but his heart was talking louder, and all he could really hear was the con he had been hoping to find.

 

**X**

 

The Decepticon Warlord and the angry ninja were still fighting, Prowl doing what he could to take the silver con down. Megatron still had a sword in hand, swinging and kicking at the bot. Prowl wasn't faring so well. His injured leg was slowing him down, while his anger and love was pushing him forward. Had his leg been fine, he would have cut Megatron's body to shreds. That was the goal, to make the Decepticon immobile, and force Nell's location from him.

 

The bot launched himself into the air, jumpjets flaming as he sailed forward, ready to attack the massive con yet again. There was a long, growling swing of Megatron's sword, and Prowl was sent flying. He landed among the trees, sitting up to launch himself again, only to feel more pain. He looked back, and gasped. One of his boosters had been sliced open, hot sparks shooting out of the gap.

 

Now he was beyond angry. “Rah!” he pounced, half roaring as he landed, swords slicing away at Megatron's chest-plate.

 

“Stop!” and he did, for a moment, because someone had screamed at him. Someone human. Prowl turned, half expecting to see Sari or maybe Nell... but he instead saw... Cole? “Stop!” the blond screamed. “Stop it, you idiot! Stop hurting him!” the human ran at the two, shouting and dirty and scared to death.

 

Prowl stepped away from shock. This... this didn't make any sense! “Cole, what-” that didn't make sense. None of this made sense.

 

Megatron was sitting up now, using his good arm to wave the human back. “Cole, you idiot, get back! What in sparks name are you _doing?!_ ”

 

But the blond had planted himself rather boldly between the warlord and the ninja, arms up and shaking. “Back up!” the blond yelled, eyes wide and blurring. When the black bot did nothing, he screamed at him. “I fucking told you to back up, you stupid ninja!” he would be a human shield if he had to be. It scared him beyond anything when he saw Megatron on his back, this stick figure of a robot whaling on him.

 

Prowl, still raging and confused, backed away, slowly, and glared hard at the blond. He hadn't a clue what was going on. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Shut _up!”_ the blond glared back at the ninja. “We don't have time! Sentinel came! Sentinel took Mattie! That's why!”

 

Prowl chirruped. “...what?” first the Decepticons, now Cole, now back to Sentinel? He was starting to wonder if any of this was really happening. The pain across his frame said it was.

 

The blond shrieked, “You stupid ninja! He has her! He has her! Go!”

 

Prowl stared, but backed up. He didn't know when, or why, or how... Cole wasn't his goal, Nell was. He bounded away, into the woods. He couldn't use his jumpjets, and he was lucky he could walk. He knew where to look now. He didn't have to worry about the Decepticons.

 

Silence, or something like it, passed over the human and the robot. Megatron's gaze fell on the little male. “You fool, what were you thinking?” the silver hellion asked.

 

Cole blinked up at him, legs shaking from adrenaline. “I was thinking where you were gonna get killed!”

 

Despite the damage to his body, the silver and red hellion sat tall, and smiled. “You honestly think that foolish ninja could take me?” he was online, wasn't he? He was fine by his viewpoint.

 

“...well you sure looked like – O-oh my god!” the blonds shaky voice rose a few octaves too high, and his mouth hung open like a dying fish, hands coming up to cover it. “Your arm! Where's your arm?” his arm was gone! Cut off right at the elbow and leaking like a hose! That sick ninja cut off his arm!

 

“What are you-” but he turned to look, and found that it was true. His arm was missing. Right, how did he forget that? “Oh, that... well, he has sliced off my arm before.” a fact he was not happy about.

 

Cole blinked. Okay, now he really hated Prowl! Megatron started to rise, but the blond yelled at him, “What are you doing! You're missing an arm! You can't go walking around like that!” his mind kept screaming blood loss, but robots didn't have blood. Megatron was leaking pretty badly, though...

 

The con blinked, and looked at the stump. “You're right...” he reached over to the profusely leaking stump, growled, and crimped it shut with his hand, seeing Cole fall on his bum a second after. He looked at the little blond, and smirked. “Much better.”

 

Cole blanched, pulse sloshing in his ears. The young male was sure that he was having a stroke. “That's not better! You're arm-”

 

“-has been ripped off before and will probably be ripped off again,” the hellion grumbled matter-of-factually. Cole was so naive. Why had he run into battle? Why had Shockwave let him do something so dangerous... “Where is Shockwave?”

 

Cole's brow pinched. “...the mountain got hit bad. Sentinel broke in a wall and he found us. Shockwave got hurt bad... really bad...” he tried to shake the image of that shattered optic, and those glowing tubes that should have never seen the light of day. The blond could only pray that Shockwave was alright. “He took Mattie, too...” no crying in front of Megatron. A canon fired in the distance, and a scream brought the two back to the battle raging on around them.

 

The con reached down, taking the human into his good hand. He held him up to his face, feeling the humans pulse, his breath, everything. The humans gaze wandered to the deep gash under his right optic. Did it really scare him this badly to see him hurt? “This place isn't safe. I have to move you.” he then set the human on his shoulder, standing up slowly. He took a step, and Cole flipped backward, landing on his back. “Eh?” the hellion stopped, brows raised at him.

 

The blond sat up, sore. “Why don't you just carry me? I'm gonna fall off!” it was a long fall. Thirty feet, maybe more! Wow... he never realized Megatron was this tall!

 

The con growled. “If I held you in my hand, I might crush or drop you if there is an ambush,” he had the habit of fist clenching when fighting. He knew if he had the human in hand, he'd be killed. Megatron turned to the blond, frowning, “and, if you think you are going to fall off, grab onto something!” he said hoarsely. He had no time for a game of 'catch the squishy', and they had to go, now!

 

“Okay, okay...” what was there to grab? The cons shoulder was always moving, and his helmet had nothing to grab- wait, his audios. He could grab one of them. He did so, holding tight.

 

Megatron's audios were quite sensitive. A little known, and more than embarrassing, fact about his form. No time for purring, he had to move. “Good, now then,” and he walked, looking just with his optics. After a few moments, his pede knocked something, and he looked down. “Hold on,” and he picked up one of his swords. Good, now he had a weapon. That Autobot was at least bright enough to cut off the armed appendage... he still hated getting his arms ripped off. “There we are.”

 

The two kept going, Megatron looking for a safe place to dump the human. He could always just set him in the woods, but that wasn't good. He might be found, or possibly run away. No, Cole was not going anywhere. The hellion looked at a small cliff, seeing a large hole. He looked into it. Seeing it was some for of an abandoned burrow. There was nothing inside but empty space. Perfect.

 

“Stay in here, and get to the back of the cavern. Do not come out, do not look out, do not say anything. When the Autobots have been taken care of, you will be taken back to the base.” he said quietly, lowering the young man into the cavern.

 

“You're gonna come back for me... right?” he couldn't help but ask. He had found Megatron, and now he was leaving him again? It scared the hell out of him.

 

Megatron's head came into view, the slice marks from the damn ninja bot lit by his optics. They glowed bright. “Why wouldn't I? You're _mine_ ,” he growled, bearing his fangs at the human. With that, he turned and bolted. He couldn't walk around with Cole on his shoulder! They would both be easier targets. He'd come back for Cole. He was his, after all.

 

The hellion held his hand to his helm, and sent out a call. _“Enough. The base was hit, and we are wasting ammunition. Our mission is done.”_ and he cut off his end of the line. He ran, made sure his arm was still there, and went to the base. His thoughts went to the little human for a moment.

 

Swindle would return soon enough, and they wouldn't need the little male as a hostage anymore. Megatron wasn't going to get rid of him, of course. That was made clear long ago. So long as the blond was in the cave, he was safe.

 

Cole was safe. That was what mattered right now. His human was _safe._

 

**X**

 

Prowl was still running, injured and determined. It was easy to flip through the trees, bounding from one to the other. His thrusters were damaged, and his leg was just holding up. He landed in the dry pine needles below.

 

Prowl stopped his running for a moment, just to check his leg. It hurt, and he couldn't get the drop on Sentinel if he kept falling over. “Alright... easy,” he spoke to himself to keep calm as he reached into a leg seam. He curled his fingers underneath the black plating, and pulled up. “Grr...” it hurt like the pit, but he had to do this. He needed his speed to find her. The black bot had a trail from Sentinel. The bot was leaking, and he knew it was a trail that lead to Nell. He could smell her, too. Grass and coffee... and something else. Something like petrol or kerosene.

 

With a hard tug, and her on his processor, he bent his leg armor back, almost to the original position. There was no chance of him driving out of here. He smelled the air, and... to the left! Prowl stood, and ran, leg no longer so hard to stand on. He had Nell's scent, and Sentinel's trail of broken limbs and energon. Prowl was close.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *warms hands over the dying embers of this fic* Shh... it'll all be over soon.


	44. Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final showdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more after this.

_Chapter Forty Four: Burn_

 

_Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. ~ The Dark Knight_

 

**X**

 

Nell watched the world sway back and forth as she was swung from the mental bots hand, dizzy and confused. She was being carried by Sentinel Prime, her shirt pulled tight to her stomach. That was what he was holding. He carried her like a stolen handbag. That one eyed robot had taken a royal pounding, and Sentinel wasn't even phased. He was ripped apart and scary to look at, but he didn't notice it, or seem to care.

 

The trees grew fewer and farther away, and the bot came to a halt. He growled, and dropped Nell on her stomach, walking away. She looked up and stared at him. He was facing away from her, looking from left to right. There was a split, it seemed, in the landscape. It was a huge chasm, and the blue Prime was looking down into it, frowning. He heard the human move, and whipped around, staring at her. “Don't move, meat-bag.” he raised the lance to point at her back. Primus, this had gone downhill fast. That stupid con had thrown something on him, and it smelled like high octane fuel. Now, he was stranded with the human.

 

The human blinked slowly, and turned. Okay, try to talk to the lunatic. If she was going to die, she wanted to know why. She wasn't scared of death, truth be told. She hadn't been since surviving that night behind the bar. No time for a flashback, not time for distraction. “Why do you want to kill me, Sentinel?” she asked softly.

 

The bot looked down at her with a cocky, manic grin, good optic flickering. Sentinel hadn't given that look to anyone in a long time. He was starting to calm down, if just a little. “Like I'd explain it to you. You slagged up the whole system,” he said lowly. For once, he wasn't screaming at her. Sentinel Prime was, admittedly, tired. He hadn't recharged in days, maybe weeks. He didn't know when the last time was, really.

 

Nell sighed, keeping her voice low. The battle raged on far behind her. It seemed everything was so far away. “How did I do it, though? You never had to attack me, you know. Could have told me I made you feel weird. I get it, I'd have backed off... or given you some kind of warning when I was coming,” she said, head down. Sentinel's mental state was foobar right now. She wanted to know what she did to piss him off so much. It might make sense, or at the very least stall for time. She was stalling for anyone to get to her. She hoped Prowl would find her, but she had doubt. She had seen Optimus a while ago, just a quick glimpse of the carnage; she couldn't shake the image from her mind of him, sprawled and splintered, and still alive.

 

Sentinel glared downward, baring his teeth. The human winced. His faceplate was cut open on one side, showing gears and wires. “Organics don't listen!” he pointed at her, lance and voice raised again.

 

“I'm listening now...” she sighed. He was a conspiracy obsessed nut case, almost like her mother. He believed she was trying to ruin him, her mother... well, she simply believed in a Jewish space zombie. No massive difference, save that her mother never tried to kill her. “What do you think my plan was, hmm? What kind of plan could a stupid organic have?”

 

Sentinel growled. She wasn't playing dumb, and he knew it. “Don't patronize me, you glitch. You are a glitch in the system I worked to stay a part of. You slagged everything up and turned them all against me!”

 

That did it for the human. Nell blinked, and lowered her head. “...I pity you, Sentinel Prime, and that is a hard thing for me to do.” no one should be pitied, and she knew it. She felt sorry for Sentinel, she really did deep down. He had lost everything over something that wasn't real, something that was all in his head.

 

He squinted, lance lowering a bit. “I don't need your slagging pity...” He wasn't the one with the lance pointed at them! She was the one at his mercy. If he didn't hate the organic so much, he'd be merciful on her. Still... there was a small part of his processor that was screaming at him to stop. He had ignored it well enough before, but now, it was getting louder, and it sounded terrified.

 

The human didn't bother with her voice now, low and quiet once again. “Look at you, Sentinel. You're beaten to a pulp over a senseless theory. What happened to you?” if she was going to die, she was going to at least try to figure out what happened to him to get this way. Insanity was terrifying.

 

“You happened! You and your glitch!” he said, growling.

 

“What _glitch?_ Explain it to me, because I don't know what the hell you're saying!” the woman yelled back at him.

 

Her voice had changed. Strange. “You _are_ the glitch, you idiot! You came along, and they all started t-t-to gang up on me! I tried to get rid of you but you had y-your plan already in motion! You did this to me!”

 

“What _plan?_ ” she yelled back at him. This was a bad idea.

 

What neither of them knew was that Prowl was sitting in the trees, waiting for a good shot at Sentinel. If he went too soon, Nell would get injured. He was just happy that she was alive.

 

Sentinel's optic glowed, and he raised his lance again. “It doesn't matter anyway, human. I'm going to fix the glitch, and everyone'll see what you are.”

 

This was it. This was how it ended. She was scared of the pain that'd come, but not the eternal black that she would see. Her eyes watered, thinking of Prowl. She loved him, and what hurt the most was that she wouldn't see him again. “What will killing me prove?” Nell asked, her voice deadpan.

 

“Everything!” and the deranged bot charged.

 

At that moment, a flash of black and gold shot over Nell's head, and Sentinel was thrown backward, the lance knocked out of his hand. The deranged bot was staring into the visor of that slagging ninja bot. He rolled, trying to pin the wriggling bot, but Prowl wasn't going to give up, not after finally finding Nell.

 

The black bot drove a sword through the blue bot's arm, causing Sentinel to scream and roll off, only for him to get up and charge again. Prowl threw his shurikens, and

 

...then Sentinel was screaming, rolling on the earth and swiping at his chest-plate. With that one throw of a weapon, sparks had flown, and the deranged Prime was now ablaze and shrieking for mercy. He stood, and stumbled forward, body crackling and groaning. “You...you...argh!” the bot reached for Prowl, blue paint consumed by black ash and blue flames, and he swung again, sending molten paint toward the trees.

 

The flames curled around the bot, paint peeling away and glass cracking. His optic glowed hot white, then flickered. Something was trying to take back control, but it wasn't strong enough. He charged for the ninja again, but Prowl ducked out of the way. The Prime didn't stop in time, and Prowl landed a kick to his back, toppling him, sending him to the empty river basin below without a second thought. Sentinel disappeared into the crevice, and his screams were finally cut off with a few, deafening clangs.

 

Prowl panted, his vents trying to get back in order. He stood, and looked down, trying to see into the dark to find the Prime, but he was only met with inky blackness. No flames melting him into nothing, no light from that one optic, no screaming, no sound at all. It was a long fall, maybe a hundred feet. It didn't matter. If that sick glitch tried to claw his way out of there, Prowl would be the one to send him to the pit. He turned...

 

Nell was staring at him with a look she had never given him. She looked beyond terrified. “Nell...” and she looked up at him, eyes wide. “Nell, are you alright?” he reached a hand outward, only to have her flinch. She had never seen him do that, be so ruthless, so quick. Behind him, fire raged on. “Nell, I'm here now.” he had to get them both out of there. He couldn't stop the flames, not in this condition.

 

“You...” she shook her head, hard, and blinked a few times. “You, uh... look different...” she didn't know what to say. He went from placid nature nut to flat out war machine without a second thought. Was that who he was? Was it like a switch? Prowl gave her a tight smile, and scooped her up. She wrapped both arms around his neck, her shirt snagging on a few cracks in his windshield. “I missed you, too.”

 

“When I saw how damaged the barn was, we all thought you were dead,” he mumbled into her hair. “I don't know what I might have done.” his vents hitched. She was alive. Thank Primus, Nell was alive!

 

The human blinked. It was suddenly a lot hotter, and it wasn't from Prowl. She looked past him, watching as flames started to work their way into the woods and up the trees. The bot looked too. The fire was spreading. “Hang on, we're going over the chasm.” and he bolted, leg begging for a break, and jumped. He landed on his back. He wasn't about to land on his pedes, he knew his leg wouldn't handle the impact. He sat up, and looked back at the spreading flames.

 

Nell looked up at him, staring at the hot orange nightmare. “What happens now?”

 

The ninja bot sighed, knowing the woods were set ablaze and there was nothing he could do. “For now, love, we wait.” she hugged tighter, and he was glad to have her back in his arms again. He was happy, so very happy that she was still alive. He didn't know what he might have done had she been offline. He never wanted to find out. He decided to contact Ratchet. “Ratchet, this is Prowl. I have Nell with me.”

The cranky medic answered back, “Glad to hear from ya, kid. Find Sentinel?”

 

The ninja bot frowned. “Yes. He had Nell with him. I managed to disarm him, but he escaped.” if one could call catching fire and falling from a cliff an actual escape. He wanted to go down there and make sure that slagheap never came up, but he knew he wasn't up for it.

 

“Bad idea. We gotta get to the road and head home. Optimus and Bulkhead aren't looking good, and we can't afford to get stuck in this slagging' inferno.” the sound of a tree falling went over the call from Ratchet's end. This was beyond their control.

 

“How had the flames spread so fast?”

 

Ratchet sounded confused. “You're in it, too? Well, you can thank that three faced lunatic for setting the blaze up out on this end!” he growled. “Just get to the road, we'll have to let the humans handle this. We gotta move.”

 

“Right. I'll meet you there. Prowl out.” the call ended, and he stood, Nell in his arms.

 

“What happened?” she asked.

 

“The fire is bigger than I thought. We're going home.” the ninja bot said, holding her close. He knew where the road was. He knew how to get there. “Just hold tight.” and one of her arms encircled his neck, cheek to his chest. Had they been anywhere else, he would have loved this moment. But stuck in this nightmare, with the fire raging on...

 

Prowl ran.

 

**X**

 

Cole had meant it when he said Shockwave got hurt. The cyclopean Con was missing an antler, his optic sensor uncovered by glass. He was already helping Blitzwing to a berth. He wasn't hurt, but he was stuck in Angry mood, and wasn't really listening.

 

Megatron all but stormed inside, Lugnut behind and carrying his lord's detached arm. This was not good, and Cole was still out there. “Shockwave, Attach my arm immediately.”

 

The antlered con chirruped. Why was it that Lord Megatron always seemed to lose an appendage? He seemed to have the worst luck when it came to that. He pushed those thoughts aside, and set to work, talking quickly and quietly. He had just got Blitzwing to came down “Lord Megatron, there was a breach. I could not keep Cole safe. He is out there. He went looking for you, I believe, my liege.”

 

The hellion couldn't hide his smirk. The little male had jumped between him and an outraged Autobot. Loyalty, or stupidity? He had learned there sometimes was no difference with the two. “ _And_ he managed to find me without getting crushed.” but now he was outside of the base.

 

Shockwave's claws twitched. Good. He was alive. Not good. He was outside. “As soon as I'm done with you, I'll go to him.”

 

“ _No._ ” the Decepticon growled, looking down at Shockwave. “I know where he is, and you need to get to the under base. Shut everything down, and go. I will meet you there, with the human.” he was close to doing something with Cole prior to this fiasco. If he wasn't the one to bring him back to the base, there might not be any chance of it working.

 

Shockwave's optic flickered. So, Megatron was attached to the human. He had thought as much. “Yes, my liege.” he went to work on the arm, claws working carefully to get the Decepticon Warlord in working order again.

 

**X**

 

The fire had spread fast, pine needles going up in smoke, embers floating away. The flames had spread quickly, consuming the trees. Still hidden in a burrow was a young teen, named Cole, who was starting to regret his current position. There was smoke coming in, and fire down below, and he didn't know if he could get down from here without getting burned alive.

 

Cole held his rosary, hands pressed together as the cool, blue beads warmed in his hands. He was scared, but he knew there was hope. There was always hope. The blond mumbled his own prayer, shutting his eyes. “Heavenly Father, creator of all that is and shall be, protect the ones that fight for the freedom of all, be they in your name, or the name they claim to be yours.”

 

Outside, fire raged on, trees crackling and the flames climbing high, spewing black smoke into the sky. He pulled his knees to his chest, hands flattened together before him. The smoke stung his eyes and lungs, but he kept going. “Dear Lord, I pray that they live another day, and that I may see my beloved one's face again, and that we all find peace, through your eternal love and protection. Be thy name Primus, be thy Name Jesus, be thy name too holy to know. In your blessed name-”

 

There was a sudden crash in the wooded inferno, the sound of snapping limbs louder than ever. Embers shot into the air and died away as Megatron's pedes crashed down, arm attached and canon ready. He was going to find his human. How in spark's name had this fire started? The con knew that fire and humans did not mix well.

 

“Amen...” the teen muttered, opening his eyes to the choking smoke. He coughed, fist to his mouth. He couldn't breath in the burrow. The smoke was clawing its way inside of his lungs. His eyes burned, and Cole set his head on his knees to wait. He could hear the pounding of metal on the earth, and he turned to the burrow opening.

 

A set of bright red optics looked in on him, blocking the heat and orange light with his towering frame.“Cole, come. We have to go,” the silver hellion said, hand outstretched for the human. The blond hacked, and crawled on hands and knees into the Decepticon's hand, panting in the orange heat. Something was wrong with him, the hellion could tell. “Human, look at me.”

 

The teen heard the raspy voice talking to him, and he struggled to look up. He opened his eyes to see Megatron's optics, narrowed and glowing. He looked calm despite the flames around them, and what was that other thing he saw... concern? “Glad you remembered me, Lord Megatron.” the blond's voice was hardly above a raspy whisper, but the hellion heard him.

 

Who would have guessed that the Great and Powerful Megatron, the hellion he was, would be some sort of angel to one, confused human? Oh well, he didn't have time to dwell. The flames were starting to bother him. “Stay alert, Cole.” he muttered, and ran, the human cupped in one hand, the same hand to his chest-plate. He readied his canon for anything. No one would get in his way when he had his human with him. “We're going home.” Cole wasn't doing well. He wasn't breathing right; it didn't take a medic to figure he couldn't breath out here!

 

The smoke rose up, clouding the sky with thick black clouds. The sky turned gray, orange flames devouring the world below.

 


	45. Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's over, isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos. I hope the trash fire kept you warm.

**Chapter Forty Five: Ending.**

 

_**I know my apprehensions might never be allayed, and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written. ~ Myst.** _

 

**X**

 

Sentinel Prime's shell was not found. The Earth Bots had went back to the place where Prowl had said he had fallen, after repairs had been done, of course. They couldn't track him, so they settled for searching on foot. Prowl went in one side, and Bumblebee went into another. Sari did an air search, looking down and listening, hoping to find some sort of proof that the deranged Prime was down there.

 

Prowl and Bumblebee met in the middle. A day of searching brought them nothing. The Prime was as good as offline, but Prowl was not pleased with the results.

 

That had been a month ago. He was still waiting for the bot to come after Nell again. A month with no sign, and he was starting to bother him.

 

But... somehow, lying out in the field with Nell after the fact made it seem less unnerving. That bot couldn't be much trouble, even if he were online. His wires must have been burned to their core, really, and-

 

“What are you thinking about, love?” the warm body next to him pulled him out of those thoughts. Nell was up to speed now. The bruises had healed, her sprained wrist was fine, and her loft had been fixed. She had yet to buy a new gun, and he certainly wasn't going to remind her. She didn't need a gun with him around.

 

He smiled at her, faceplate turned to the yellowing sky. “That cloud looks like a feather, don't you think?”

 

Nell giggled, scooting closer. “It looks like a starfish.”

 

The ninja bot chirruped. “How does a feather look like a starfish?”

 

The woman giggled again. “I like starfish.” she was doing better, but it was still easy to tell that the human wasn't quite over what had happened. How could she be? It was a nightmare. It was only a month ago, after all! She stuck a little closer to him, and she would pause when she heard something odd, but she was still his Nell. He could hardly tell when she did it, when she jumped, or when her eyes went a little wide. She was still the same, just a bit more cautious. “I like your new look, too, by the way.” he was downright gorgeous.

 

Prowl smiled, visor shifted. “Do you, Nell?” with that he scooped her into his arms, and rolled onto his back again, smiling still.

 

“Eep!” she laughed, laying on top of him, listening to the thrum of his spark. She had a thought, one that didn't seem to go away. “...do you ever think about Sentinel Prime?” Nell asked, frowning. It bothered her, knowing what had happened to him... or more likely what _hadn't_ happened to him. “I mean... what if he's still alive?”

 

“He wouldn't get past the gate, love.” the ninja bot said, arms curling around her back. He liked her there, draped over his chest-plate. and stomach armor, right where he could feel her heart, where she could feel his spark. She was safe in his arms. She was safe.

 

**X**

 

After the fires had died out, the Decepticons moved out of the old base. They couldn't risk being found after the little incident some time ago. Megatron had told Lugnut and Blitzwing to gather everything left behind. It was taking longer than expected, but this was good. Shockwave had been given the task

 

This wasn't something he wanted anyone to see. This was something he had been meaning to do for some time. Opportunity struck, and he seized it.

 

Now, or never.

 

“I have something for you, little human,” the silver hellion purred, setting the teen on his desk as he had done so many times before.

 

Cole looked up at him, eyes no longer red from smoke, lungs free to breath. He cocked his head. He hadn't danced in forever. “What is it?”

 

Megatron narrowed his optics, and smiled. “Close your eyes, human.” and the blond did as he was told. There were a few flashes of light, a bright greenish yellow, and a sizzling noise, but he kept his eyes closed. The noises stopped, and now there were footsteps... small ones, but still powerful ones, and they stopped in front of him. He could hear a dull, soft hum, and felt something on his face, under his right eye. Fingertips, cool and careful, and a thumb, he guessed, over his mouth. “Open your eyes.” that was Megatron's voice, talking right there in front of him. Cole's gray eyes opened, and before him stood the great silver hellion, just a few feet taller than himself. “Hello, Cole.” he moved his hand slowly to the teen's hair. It felt strange, warm, soft... and it was something new.

 

The teen jumped, awestruck. “What... you're so small!” he squeaked, hands curious and eager but still as they hung in the air. He reached an uncertain hand out, eyes questioning. Was this real? “How did you do that?”

 

Megatron smirked. “That bot, Swindle, is quite good at finding just what I need. This is a special mod, hard to find, but easy to use. It was mostly used for bots that would spy. Bots easily shrank down to a mere fourth of their size for easy hiding.” he grinned. “The arms dealer happened to have a few, and was more than happy to get one for his favorite customer.” and if anyone saw him at this size, he could easily change back, and simply say he was testing a new device that would ensure victory for all Decepticons. Most would believe it without questioning him, after all. Sure, he could have bought a hologram, but they were so impersonal, and were useless to one of his size. This was so much better.

 

Cole stood still, the con blinking slowly at him. What, no more questioning? He grabbed the teen by the wrist, and held the hand up to his chest. “You don't think I would become this size for you to have nothing to touch, do you?” he set the teen's hand on his chest plate, letting go and resting his hands at his sides. “ _Touch_ me, human.”

 

Cole blinked, and slowly slid his hand downward to touch the hellion's stomach plating. He swallowed, head a swirl of thoughts and pulses. He pulled his hand back, and took a risk. He cupped the con's left audio, thumb against his helm. “Wow.”

 

Megatron's hand came up, and opened, showing Cole something strange. It looked like a white collar. Like... a dog collar. “What's that?” he asked quietly.

 

“Something important, if this is to work.” the Decepticon smirked. “You will wear this collar, as a sign of who you belong to. It's simply a cover for what we will be.” him with a human would raise a few eyebrows, and having Cole seen as a weakness was not ideal in the least. Megatron could not be weak, and Cole would not be a bargaining chip. “They will think you a pet, and you will act as such,” he stated, head held high. “You will call me master when others are present. A simple thing, wouldn't you say?” he placed the collar into Cole's hand, feeling the warmth his skin gave, feeling his pulse as it heightened. These humans were so interesting.

 

The teen swallowed. “What if... what if I don't want to be a pet?”

 

Unintentionally, his optics flickered. “Should you decide that this is not ideal, I will let you go... and Shockwave will return you to the humans.” he didn't want Cole to stay with him if he didn't accept. He could say it would hurt, but that wasn't something he was going to explain. “The choice is yours.” with that, Megatron turned his back to Cole, giving him some form of privacy.

 

The young man looked over the collar. It was leather, and white, and had small, silver spikes. It would fit his neck well. He fiddled with the clasp, and walked toward the now much smaller Megatron. He knew what he wanted.

 

There was warmth on his palm, and he realized suddenly that Cole was, rather cautiously, holding his hand. In the humans other hand, he was holding up the collar. The con turned, disappointment creasing his pale gray face. He had been wrong. The human didn't want this... oh well. It was more than understandable. Who would want to be with the person who had treated them like a toy? Kept them from sunlight? Had done what he had? “Very well. I'll have Shockwave return you t-”

 

The blond's eyes widened, his hand not so frightened to hold the black metal one. “No, no, no, crap! Uh... that's not a no, Megatron!” he looked downright horrified by his little mistake. “It's just... normally, the owner puts the collar on the pet. Since you did say you wanted to make it seem like that... dumb idea from me, I guess.” he blinked, blushing, and held it up. “Can we try that... master?” he said, pulling his hand away from Megatron's to hold up his hair. It was starting to grow out already.

 

For a moment, he stared at the human. He wanted to stay, then? He was going to go along with this? Megatron took the collar back, and slid it around the humans neck, carefully closing the buckle with a soft click. He turned it with the clasp hidden, thumb tracing the spikes. “How does that feel, my pet?”

 

Cole grinned. “I love it, my lord.” he said, eyes bright. It wasn't exactly an 'I love you', but it meant that Megatron wanted to keep him! That was great!

 

Megatron bared his fangs, and grabbed his human by the collar, pulling him forward. “Good boy,” he purred, before pressing his mouth to the humans. It was nothing like kissing another con – which he had done, of course! - but it wasn't bad at all. Just different, like this, like being so small. Not what he expected, but...

 

This was what he, and his pet, wanted. He was going to enjoy being this little humans master.

 

**X**

 

Today was the day! Preparations had been made, and tests had been run, and a set of turquoise null rays had been built and attached. Tests and diagnostics had been run. The paint job was looked over a dozen times to check for flaws, and it was hooked up to the machine that would transfer Sarah into it. The shell was ready.

 

Sarah had been ready for weeks. She was more than ready for the transfer. She had been on his shoulder nearly all the way through. She watched the simulations he ran, studied probabilities, paced her tank, even. She was as eager as he, and the seeker couldn't be any more delighted! The human was ready.

 

Starscream held her in both hands, smiling as they went down the darkened hallway. He had diverted some of the ships low priority power to the back room. He didn't know if they would need it or not, but he had to make absolutely certain that the transfer went through. “Are you ready for this?”

 

“As I'll ever be, Starscream,” Sarah said, smirking up at him.

 

He stepped into the back room, setting his female into a small, glass tank. “Place your hands in here. You'll feel a pinch, but that will be all.” Sarah did as told, laying her head back on the cage looking thing. It closed around her head and neck, nodes pressing into her neck and scalp. “Good, good. I can't have you flailing around in there, you know,” Starscream said as he strapped her legs down.

 

She looked at him through the blue glass, waving, and the transfer began. Her eyes closed, and he punched in the codes needed. “Throw the switch!” he called to himself, pulling down on the switch that would start up the device. It hummed to life, and Sarah jumped. The Transfer had begun...

 

...and all hell broke loose.

 

Alarms blared like a death call, and he knew immediately that something was wrong. Starscream looked at the tank, and watched as tiny, bright sparks floated away from his human's body. “No...” he watched in horror as Sarah thrashed and screamed, her voice garbled from the strain and blood filling her throat. This was the least likely of outcomes. It had only occurred twice in every simulation he had run! The transfer was taking energy from her body and using it to create a complete spark. She was disintegrating in front of him.

 

“This wasn't supposed to happen!” the magenta seeker was in a state of panic. He could do nothing. The alarms continued to blare, his optics wide and glowing. If he stopped the transfer, she would offline. If he didn't stop the transfer, she might offline. He stayed in place, waiting for the transfer to go through, her screams quiet and wet sounding.

 

The sirens shut down, and the lights flashed. All sound stopped. He looked at Sarah's human form, and grimaced. She was looking right at him, grinning and blood foaming from her mouth. She was dead... at least, her human body was dead.

 

He thundered to the blue shell, and unstrapped it, lifting her head to face him. “Sarah?” the seeker asked, looking at the femme body. She wasn't moving. Nothing was happening and it was scaring him. “Answer me, Sarah. Do something,” he rasped, grabbing one of her hands. Cold metal met warm metal, and the magenta seeker clutched tight. Move, that's all he wanted for her to do was to move.

 

A small, quiet creak came from the shell, and he leaned down. Suddenly, her optics came online, and she blinked at him. She knew where she was, and who she was. But what was going on was another matter. “What... what happened?” the seeker femme craned her neck to see what she knew to be her old body, but Starscream blocked the view with his frame.

 

“Don't look at it. It's... It went wrong.” what the femme got a glimpse of was horrifying. She could remember, if she tried hard enough. She could see, in her mind, her fists banging helplessly on the sides of the tank as her fingertips melted away. Her nose, her lips... holy shit, it was real!

 

The seeker femme sat upright with a gasp, the sound of air rushing past wires and metal. “Starscream!” she choked, free hand touching her chest. She felt no heartbeat, just a subtle hum. A hum that told her she was alive. “It.... it worked?” she asked, sitting up, now red optics flickering in question. Why was he so freaked out if it had worked?

 

The magenta seeker blinked, holding her one hand tight. “The, er, process that I used seems to have... eaten some of your old body, so to speak.” his voice rattled as he spoke, showing his nervous nature. He was relieved to find she was alive.

 

The femme blinked again, frowning. “That wasn't the idea?”

 

Starscream huffed. “Of course not.”

 

Sarah smirked at him. “Whatever you say.”

 

He smirked back. “That's right... whatever I say.” yep, she was still his female... or more like his _femme._

 

The femme rolled her optics, and whirred. “Huh, so that's what that noise means.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“That noise, that whirring sound... it's a sigh, I think.” she blinked again, trying to stand up. He was right at her side, helping her up. She could feel his excitement. Why shouldn't he be excited?

 

“Trust me, my dear, you have much to learn.” Starscream said, helping her to stand.

 

The once human nodded, and glanced at her old body. Horrible what happened, but she was alive in a real body, a strong body. “Can't wait.”

 

The two left the room with her leaning on him, finally able to hold hands.

 

**X**

 

The sky had faded from yellow to bright orange, and it was getting darker by the minute. At some point in time, Nell had fallen asleep in the grass. When she had crawled off of Prowl was beyond her, but she knew that she was being sniffed by a very happy Arabian stallion. “Hi, Shy.”

 

Prowl looked over at them. “You were asleep. I didn't want to wake you.”

 

The short human smiled at him. Such a sweet bot. “Well, Shylock did.” Nell grabbed onto Shylock's mane, and pulled herself up. “This is how we met,” she said, petting the horses nose. He shook his mane at her, stamping his feet. “You and me, I mean.”

 

The ninja bot chirruped. “Is it?”

 

“Yeah... it was getting dark outside, and I was teaching Shylock to do bareback.” she smiled at the memory. It seemed so long ago, but still fresh in her mind. “He snorted at the treeline, and I pulled my gun on you.” she chuckled nervously.

 

Prowl grinned, and stood. “I stepped out, hands up, and asked you not to fire.” he held his hands up, just as he did then. Of course he remembered it.

 

Nell grinned, and put her hands on her hips as she had done then. “You were not what I was expecting.”

 

He nodded at her, crossing his arms. “That tends to happen a lot.”

 

“You were a mess.”

 

“That I was.” he didn't like mud.

 

Nell giggled. “And that was just our first time seeing each other! The second time, Champ...” she smiled softly, thinking of her gone friend. “He knocked your ass down.”

 

“That he did.” the black bot watched as Nell clamored onto the stallions back, adjusting herself.

 

“Remember this part, Prowl? Me, climbing onto Champ?” Shylock walked in a circle, head held high and proud. “You're pretty fast, right?”

 

Oh, he knew where she was going. He crouched, waiting. “Compared to other Autobots, I am very fast.”

 

“Good...” Shylock whinnied, and Nell gave him a small kick, sending him into a trot. Nell looked back, and called, “Because Shylock is faster than Champ was any day! Ya!” she gave the horse another kick and leaned forward, heading over a hill on the beasts back at a powerful gallop.

 

Prowl grinned, and gave chase, just as he had done all those months ago, chasing his partner underneath an orange sky.

 

**X**

 

**THE END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dumps bucket of water over trash fire* Show's over, guys. 
> 
> Until the next one.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes. 45 chapters of this shit are what you have to look forward to.


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